Fig. 3

MDW improves early sepsis detection in combination with altered mental status and hypotension. The probability of sepsis in patients presenting initially to the ED with altered mental status (AMS) (a) is lower if the MDW is normal (solid blue line) compared to abnormal MDW (dashed red line). The probability of sepsis is also higher when AMS is combined with abnormal WBC (dashed purple line). When AMS is associated with abnormal WBC, abnormal MDW further predicts higher sepsis probability (dashed black line) and normal MDW predicts lower sepsis probability (dashed green line). In the setting of hypotension (b) with elevated WBC (purple dashed line), normal MDW is associated with lower sepsis risk (green dashed line)