Abstract
In vitro measurements with a transparent rheophotometer were carried out to study the spontaneous aggregation of red cells of 208 blood samples obtained from 132 children with different infectious diseases. The mean evaluation of aggregate formation in stasis (MEA) as well as of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was correlated with the concentration of most of the acute phase proteins of the plasma. The aggregate formation of erythrocytes (MEA) was more sensitively influenced by an increased concentration of the most important acute phase proteins than the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). A distinct correlation of red cell aggregation and the fibrinogen concentration was found. We suggest, that the measurement of red cell aggregation is an appropriate method to describe the increase in the concentrations of the most important acute phase proteins, especially fibrinogen, during infectious diseases.
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