Red Blood Cell Distribution Width - Calculations

Calculations

The "width" in RDW is sometimes thought of as "misleading," since it in fact is a measure of deviation of the volume of RBCs, and not directly the diameter. However, "width" refers to the width of the volume curve (distribution width), not the width of the cells. Thus, it is a reasonably accurate term.

Mathematically the RDW is calculated with the following formula:

RDW = (Standard deviation of MCV ÷ mean MCV) × 100.

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