Comparison of the prognostic value of red cell distribution width (RDW) and N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for short-term clinical outcomes in acute heart failure (AHF) patients has not been fully investigated.A total of 128 patients with AHF were enrolled and followed for 3 months. Primary endpoints were cardiovascular (CV) events, defined as cardiac death and/or readmission for HF. Baseline RDW and NT-proBNP were measured at admission.The 30-day and 90-day CV event rates were 16.4% and 35.9%, respectively. NT-proBNP was higher in people with cardiovascular events at both time points, while RDW was significantly higher only at the 90-day time point. The area under the ROC curve of RDW (area under the ROC curve = 0.695) for the prediction of CV events was higher than that of NT-proBNP (area under the ROC curve = 0.610) at the 90-day time point, but lower at the 30-day time point. Cox hazard analysis revealed RDW and NT-proBNP were independent predictive factors of a 90-day CV event (RDW, hazard ratio, 4.610, 95% confidence interval 1.935-10.981, P = 0.001; NT-proBNP, hazard ratio, 3.661, 95% confi dence interval 1.125-11.907, P = 0.031). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that patients with an RDW level > 14.5% and NT-proBNP > 1471.5 pg/mL were at highest risk for a CV event (P < 0.001).RDW and NT-proBNP are strong independent predictors of 90-day cardiovascular events in patients hospitalized with AHF. RDW can add prognostic value to NT-proBNP for predicting early cardiovascular events.