Predictive value of red cell distrubition width and C reactive protein/albumin ratio in determining severe acute pancreatitis

Abstract

Aim: To determine the relationship of red cell distribution width (RDW) and C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin ratio with Ransoncriteria, 2012 revised Atlanta Scoring and Balthazar Scoring in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP), which are used in daily practiceto estimate the AP severity.Material and Methods: RDW was documented from the complete blood count at the time of patient admission to the hospital. Onthe second day of hospitalization, the CRP/albumin ratio was calculated as the ratio of absolute CRP to albumin. The relationshipbetween the patients’ RDW levels and CRP/albumin ratio, with the length of hospital stay, and Ranson, Revised Atlanta criteria andBalthazar scores were investigated.Results: In a total of 152 patients with a mean age of 51.58 ± 15.58 years (range: 19-76) were included in the study. Among participants82 (53.9%) were female and 70 (46.1%) were male. Among study participants, according to Ranson criteria, 117 were having mild and35 were having severe AP; regarding Atlanta classification, 116 were having mild and 36 were having severe AP and according to theBaltahazar classification 122 were having mild-moderate and 30 were having severe AP. The mean hospitalization period was 7.14±4.17 days (range: 2-27 days). RDW and CRP/albumin ratio are compared between mild-moderate and severe AP groups definedwith Ranson, Atlanta and Baltahazar classifications. There was not any significant difference between groups regarding RDW values;however, CRP/albumin ratio was significantly different between groups defined with all three classifications (p: 0.001). There wasnot any correlation between RDW and any of the scores or hospitalization period; however, CRP/albumin ratio showed significantmoderate correlation with all of the scores and hospitalization period.Conclusion: We suggest that, CRP/albumin ratio is a good prognostic marker in predicting severe AP; however RDW values did nothave any predictive value regarding the severity of AP.