['The increased value of the red cell distribution width (RDW) was reported to indicate poor prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure. We evaluated the value of the RDW in the diagnosis of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in patients without diastolic heart failure among the chronic kidney disease (CKD) population.', 'The study group consisted of 73 ambulatory patients with CKD, stages 2-5. Standard echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) were performed, and the level of RDW was determined. Patients were divided into four groups according to the results of peak early diastolic velocity of mitral annulus (EmLV) and the stage of CKD: group with early stage CKD (eGFR > 30 ml/min/1.73 m(2)) without LVDD (EmLV ≥ 8 cm/s), early stage CKD with LVDD (EmLV < 8 cm/s), group with advanced stage CKD (eGFR ≤ 30 ml/min/1.73 m(2)) without LVDD, and group with advanced stage CKD with LVDD.', 'Patients with advanced stage CKD with LVDD were characterized by higher RDW levels than patients with advanced stage CKD without LVDD and with early stage CKD groups with and without LVDD [14.5 (13.8-19.5) % vs. 13.7 (11.4-15,4) %, p = 0.049, vs. 13.8(13.1-14.9) %, p = 0.031, vs. 13.7(12.1-16.2) %, p = 0.0007], respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of RDW level for the detection of LVDD was 0.649, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.528-0.758, p = 0.021, whereas ROC derived RDW value of >13.5 % was characterized by a sensitivity of 83.3 % and specificity of 45.2 % for predicting LVDD. The only independent factor of LVDD was RDW level >13.5 % with odds ratio (OR) = 3.92 (95 % CI 1.05-14.56), p = 0.037.'] Is red cell distribution width an independent factor for left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with chronic kidney disease?