Effects of Acute Trental Infusion on White Blood Cell Rheology in Patients With Critical Leg Ischaemia

AbstractChanges in the circulatory behaviour of white cells may contribute to the progression of tissue ischaemia. To investigate whether the therapeutic effects of Trental might result from an inhibition of white cell activation and rheological changes, we measured the filterability of cell suspensions derived from patients with critical leg ischaemia, before and after infusion of 600 mg of this agent. The filterability of white cells was improved following infusion of Trental, reaching statistically significant levels in the case of mononuclear cells. It was noticeable that those patients with worse granulocyte flow or higher levels of activation did tend to show improvement after treatment. Thus there is some evidence of an in vivo effect of pentoxifylline on white cell behaviour in patients with severe leg ischemia.