Can red blood cell distribution width predict severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome?
In patients referred with a clinical diagnosis of OSAS, RDW may be a marker for the severity of the condition. As RDW is usually included in a complete blood count, it could provide an inexpensive tool for triaging OSAS patients for polysomnography evaluation.
Under normal conditions, vasoconstriction of proximal hyaloid vessels occurs at birth, preceding attenuation of distal hyaloid vessels. Vasoconstriction also occurs in O(2)-treated pups during treatment, but upon return to room air, the remaining hyaloid vessels dilate proximally, and the distal vessels become dilated and tortuous. These observations support the contention that regression of the hyaloid network is dependent, in the first instance, on proximal arterial vasoconstriction.