Abstract
An association has been shown to exist between hypertension in adult life and fetal intrauterine growth retardation. In this study clear similarities have been found between the haemorheological profiles of adults with essential hypertension and infants who are significantly growth retarded at birth. In both groups, When compared with normal controls whole blood viscosity, haematocrit and plasma viscosity were elevated and erythrocyte deformability reduced. In hypertensive males there was also a significant elevation of plasma fibrinogen concentration, this difference was not demonstrated in growth retarded fetuses.
Further investigation of the regulatory mechanisms that determine whole blood viscosity and its major components in fetal intrauterine development may reveal a mechanism to explain the association between intrauterine growth retardation and adult hypertension.
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