RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BLOOD RHEOLOGY AND TRANSCUTANEOUS OXYGEN PRESSURE IN PERIPHERAL OCCLUSIVE ARTERIAL DISEASE

Increased blood viscosity has been shown to experimentally reduce blood flow. In lower limb ischaemia, haemorheologic abnormalities have been repeatedly described but their pathophysiologic importance remains unclear. In this study" we investigated the possible influence of blood rheology on oxygen transfer (as measured by transcutaneous oxygen pressure: TCP02) in 121 nondiabetic patients suffering from P.O.A.D. (age: 46-91 year-old, 88 men and 33 women) with Leriche and Fontaine stage: II (n=61); III (n=35); IV (n=25), compared to 39 controls. Blood viscosity was higher (pred cell rigidity which was significantly (prheology on oxygen transfer; prheology may influence oxygen transfer to tissues in patients with P.O.A.D .. The factors of blood viscosity which may be involved in worsening the ischaemic process may be (a) red cell rigidity (in stage III); (b) red cell aggregation (in the whole sample of patients).