Association between red blood cell distribution width and disease activity in patients with Behcet's disease.

OBJECTIVES: To examine associations between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and organ involvement and disease activity in patients with Behcet's disease. METHODS: Haematological and inflammatory parameters including RDW, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were examined in patients with Behcet's disease and in healthy controls. Patients were divided into those with active or inactive disease. RESULTS: Data from 236 patients with Behcet's disease (77 with active and 159 with inactive disease) and 72 controls were analysed. RDW, ESR and hsCRP were significantly higher in patients with Behcet's disease than in controls, and in those with active disease compared with inactive disease or controls. In addition, ESR and hsCRP were significantly higher in those with inactive disease than controls. No correlations were found between hsCRP, ESR and RDW. No differences were observed in RDW, ESR or hsCRP between patients with or without ocular or vascular involvement. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that RDW was significantly higher in active disease compared with inactive disease. CONCLUSIONS: RDW was increased in active disease compared with inactive disease. No relationships were found between organ involvement and RDW. RDW may be a cost-effective, novel potential parameter to evaluate disease activity in Behcet's disease.