RESUMO
Objective:To investigate the early diagnostic value of red blood cell distribution width(RDW)in elderly patients with acute ischemic stroke(AIS), and to explore whether RDW can be used as an independent predictor of AIS.Methods:This retrospective study included elderly AIS patients who were hospitalized within the first 24 hours after the onset of symptoms from November 2018 to October 2019 as the AIS group, and elderly patients with various conditions that masqueraded as a stroke who were admitted to hospital during the same period were included as the control group.The demographic data, vascular risk factors, and baseline RDW levels were recorded, and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of RDW for AIS.Results:The median level of RDW in the AIS group was significantly higher than that in the control group(13.0% vs.12.4%, P<0.001). The area under the curve of RDW was 0.758(95% CI: 0.685-0.823). At the cut-off value was 12.7%, and its sensitivity and specificity were 73.2% and 75.3%, respectively.Multivariate Logistric regression analysis showed that after adjusting for covariates, the risk of AIS is 5.342-fold for each 1% increase in RDW( OR: 5.342, 95% CI: 2.520-11.324, P<0.001). Conclusions:The increased level of RDW is related to the risk of AIS, and it is an independent predictor of AIS.Thus, it may be used as a preliminary screening index for the diagnosis of AIS.