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.
Read more about this topic: Red Blood Cell Distribution Width
Famous quotes containing the word calculations:
“What, really, is wanted from a neighborhood? Convenience, certainly, an absence of major aggravation, to be sure. But perhaps most of all, ideally, what is wanted is a comfortable background, a breathing space of intermission between the intensities of private life and the calculations of public life.”
—Joseph Epstein (b. 1937)
“The vulgar call good fortune that which really is produced by the calculations of genius.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He who is conversant with the supernal powers will not worship these inferior deities of the wind, waves, tide, and sunshine. But we would not disparage the importance of such calculations as we have described. They are truths in physics because they are true in ethics.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)