Influence of anticoagulant,time and storing temperature on blood viscosity measurements

Abstract

In order to provide practical help for workers in this field a study was undertaken to clarify the hither tho little researched influence of the following factors on blood viscometry: anticoagulant, time lapse withdrawal -measuring, and storage temperature. Blood from healthy volunteers was anticoagulated with heparin or EDTA, left standing either at 21°C or 4°C and measured at hours 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 24 after venepuncture in a Haake RV 100 viscometer. The results demonstrate that blood viscosity measurements a) are similar in terms of absolute value and reliability, regardless to the anticoagulant used (heparin or EDTA) if measured without delay b) show a decreased reliability with increasing delay of measurement which is most pronounced at low shear c) remain most stable during longer delays of measurement if blood is cooled to 4°C.