en Laboratory Medicine Laboratory Medicine Original Article Original Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height:14pt"><b><i><span style="color:blue">Background</span></i></b><i><span style="color:blue">:</span></i> Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that RDW (red blood cell distribution width) may independently predict clinically important outcomes in many populations. However, the role of RDW has not been elucidated in brain death. We conducted this study with the aim of evaluating the predictive value of RDW in brain death.<span style="font-size:9.0pt"></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><b><i><span style="color:blue">Methods:</span></i></b> A retrospective study of seventy-seven of brain death cases during 36 months were evaluated at university hospitals, affiliated in Tehran, Iran. Demographical data include age, sex, BMI and cause of brain death, also laboratory results (red blood cell distribution, mean corpuscular volume, hemoglobin) collected by checklists from patient records. Having the three RDW measurements (days of hospital admission, day of brain death, and day of cardiac arrest) required.<span style="font-size:10.0pt"></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><b><i><span style="color:blue">Results:</span></i></b> Time interval from hospital admission until brain death was 5.27&plusmn;4.07. The mean age of brain death cases was 32.65&plusmn;16.53. The mean RDW values on days of hospital admission, the day of brain death, and the day of cardiac arrest were 14.53&plusmn;1.98, 15.12&plusmn;1.93 and 15.18&plusmn;2.07, respectively. Results of the repeated-measures ANOVA test reveal that RDW level was constantly higher in the traumatic patient group compared to the non-traumatic ones (P=0.008).</span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><b><i><span style="color:blue">Conclusion</span></i></b><i><span style="color:blue">:</span></i> The frequency of brain death was high in patients with high RDW values. RDW might be a prognostic biomarker for brain death. More prospective studies with large sample size and long follow-up period should be carried out to determine the prognostic significance of RDW and brain death in future.<b><i><span style="color:#0033cc"></span></i></b></span></span></span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</h3> RDW, Brain death, Cardiac arrest 37 42 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2354-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sanaz Dehghani sanaz_dehghani2002@yahoo.com 100319475328460040790 100319475328460040790 Yes Organ Procurement Unit, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Elahe Pourhosein 100319475328460040791 100319475328460040791 No Organ Procurement Unit, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Amir Ali Hamidieh aahamidieh@sina.tums.ac.ir 100319475328460040792 100319475328460040792 No Iranian Tissue Bank & Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciencies, Tehran, Iran Zeinab Mansouri z.mansoury61@gmail.com 100319475328460040793 100319475328460040793 No Organ Procurement Unit, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Niloufar Tirgar ni.tirgar@gmail.com 100319475328460040794 100319475328460040794 No Iranian Tissue Bank & Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciencies, Tehran, Iran Fariba Namdar f_namdar_f@yahoo.com 100319475328460040795 100319475328460040795 No Iranian Tissue Bank & Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciencies, Tehran, Iran Pantea Ramezannezhad 100319475328460040796 100319475328460040796 No Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Kashani Hospital, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran Arefeh Jafarian Latifi.marzieh@gmail.com 100319475328460040797 100319475328460040797 No Iranian Tissue Bank & Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciencies, Tehran, Iran Marzieh Latifi marziye_latifi@yahoo.com 100319475328460040798 100319475328460040798 No Organ Procurement Unit, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran