Hemorheological factors in the pathophysiology of venous disease

Abstract

Blood rheological abnormalities play an important role in venous pathology as does varicose vein disease. In this study the essential microrheological parameters (hematocrit, plasma viscosity, fibrinogen, erythrocyte aggregation and deformability) were tested on 20 control subjects and 20 patients having varicose veins in the legs.The measurements were taken on samples collected at an antecubital vein, on leg veins before and after 30 minutes of stasis. Those patients having varicose veins of the lower limbs showed aggravated rheological disturbances after stasis. In the veins, where the blood flow rate is the lowest, the erythrocyte aggregation appeared as the fundamental parameter associated with the alteration of red cell deformability and with the increase of plasma viscosity.