Affiliations: Haemorheology and Thrombosis Unit, Department of Clinical Pathology, La Fe University Hospital, Valencia, Spain | Internal Medicine Service, La Fe University Hospital, Valencia, Spain | Rheumatology Service, General Hospital, Valencia, Spain | Dermatology Service, La Fe University Hospital, Valencia, Spain
Note: [] Corresponding author: Amparo Vayá, MD, PhD, Haemorheology and Thrombosis Unit, Department of Clinical Pathology, La Fe University Hospital, Avda. Campanar 21, 46009 Valencia, Spain. Tel.: +34 96 3862714; Fax: +34 96 1973089; E-mail: vaya_amp@gva.es.
Abstract: The relationship between rheological alterations and systemic sclerosis (SSc) is not well established. We have determined in 27 patients with SSc (4 male, 21 female ) aged 59±14 years and in a well matched control group the whole rheological profile, i.e. blood viscosity (BV), plasma viscosity (PV), erythrocyte aggregation (EA), erythrocyte deformability (ED) along with fibrinogen (Fbg), C-reactive protein (CRP), lipids, and erythrocyte indices. Patients show higher Fbg, PV and EA (P<0.01) and lower ED (P<0.01). A negative significant correlation was found between ED and inflammation markers, both CRP (P<0.05) and Fbg (P<0.01), indicating that decreased ED seems to be related to inflammatory changes at microcirculatory levels. In addition, patients with anticentromere antibodies show significantly lower ED than those without (P<0.05). The clinical significance of this observation needs to be clarified, deserving further research.
