Abstract:Objective To investigate clinical significance of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods A retrospective analysis of 267 patients with acute cerebral infarction who were admitted into our hospital from February 2015 to March 2018 were involved in this study. Patients were divided into high RDW group (RDW > 15%, n?=?78), and low RDW group (≤15%, n?=?189). A total of 30 cases of healthy people were recruited as control group. Serum levels of Hcy, MMP-9 and hs-CRP were measured. NIHSS score, ADL scores, incidence of HT and MODS were evaluated. Results ACI patients experienced increased levels of RDW (P?0.05), Hcy, MMP-9, HT and hs-CRP (P?0.05) compared with healthy individuals, all of which was further increased when compared with those in low level of RDW group (P?0.05). NIHSS and ADL score suggested that patients with low level of RDW had better prognosis (P?0.05) when compared with patients in high RDW group. Conclusions The serum levels of RDW is upregulated In ACI patients, and high levels of RDW may indicate poor prognosis.