Truby LK, et al. - Given the independent predictive value of red cell distribution width (RDW) for morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular disease and heart failure, researchers sought its predictive power for mortality after continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) implantation. They retrospectively analyzed 409 patients who underwent CF-LVAD implantation between April 2004 and December 2015 and identified that RDW can successfully assess mortality risk in CF-LVAD candidates. They noted that 90-day mortality could be independently predicted using RDW. RDW alone had discriminatory power similar to model of end-stage liver disease excluding international normalized ratio (MELD-Xi) and HeartMate II risk scores.