Prognostic Role of Red Cell Distribution Width and Other Routine Clinico-Pathological Parameters in Dogs with Acute Pancreatitis

Simple Summary This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of some commonly used and inexpensive hematological and biochemical parameters in dogs with acute pancreatitis. This is a multicenter study including 70 client-owned dogs. Statistical analysis was performed to obtain the accuracy of clinical and laboratory variables in order to predict short-term death (i.e., dead by 14 days) and to identify independent predictors of death. The survival rate was 72.9% (51 dogs) and 19 dogs died within 14 days of admission from AP. Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) had good accuracy to predict short-term death with the cut-off of >12.7% and >42 mg/dL, respectively. The results indicate that RDW, BUN and bilirubin are useful predictors of short-term death in dogs with acute pancreatitis. This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of red cell distribution width (RDW) RDW-to-calcium ratio (RDW/Ca), neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio (N/L), platelets-to-lymphocytes ratio (P/L) and other easy to obtain and inexpensive hematological and biochemical parameters in dogs with acute pancreatitis. This is a multicenter, retrospective cohort study including 70 client-owned dogs. The accuracy of clinical and laboratory variables to predict short-term death (i.e., dead by 14 days) was tested by calculating the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC). Independent predictors of death were identified using the multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model. The survival rate was 72.9% (51 dogs) and 19 dogs died within 14 days of admission from AP. RDW and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) had good accuracy to predict short-term dead with AUC of 0.74 and 0.70 at the cut-off of >12.7% and >42 mg/dL, respectively. According to the multivariable model, RDW (hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval [HR, 95% CI] = 5.08, 95% CI = 1.14-22.67; p = 0.03), BUN (HR = 1.00, 95% CI = 1.00-1.01; p < 0.01) and bilirubin (HR = 2.46, 95% CI = 1.38-4.39; p < 0.01) were independent predictors of death. The results indicate that RDW, BUN and bilirubin are useful predictors of short-term death in dogs with acute pancreatitis.

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of commonly used and inexpensive hematological and biochemical parameters in dogs with acute pancreatitis and found that red cell distribution width, blood urea nitrogen, and bilirubin are useful predictors of short-term death.