Erythrocyte morphology as a determinant of abnormal erythrocyte deformability in liver disease

Abstract

Erythrocyte deformability was studied by 5 μm pore filtration (initial-flow-rate and positive-pressure methods) and by viscometric and Ektacytometric techniques in 30 patients with liver disease compared with 30 matched controls. All of the rheological techniques demonstrated abnormal erythrocyte deformability in the patient group, with a left shift of the Ektacytometer Osmoscan curve correlating significantly with degree of liver failure. Abnormal erythrocyte morphology (codocytes, acanthocytes, and an increase in mean cell diameter), rather than an increase in mean cell volume, was a major determinant of abnormal erythrocyte deformability.