Abstract
The effect of dilution on the apparent viscosity of high hematocrit blood, with flow improver and plasma expander type of dextrans, was studied in a capillary viscometer. All experiments were performed on fresh heparinized dog blood. It was observed that blood dextran mixtures at normal hematocrit (41 per cent) have higher apparent viscosity than that of whole blood, at the same hematocrit, at all flow rates, and that under certain conditions even low hematocrit (23 per cent) mixtures have a higher apparent viscosity than whole blood of normal hematocrit. Analysis of the data indicates that the viscosity of the suspending medium is a major determinant of the apparent viscosity of whole blood.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.