Affiliations: 3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Jikei University School of Medicine, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105, Japan | The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako, Saitama 351-01, Japan
Note: [] To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract: The change of rheological properties of blood during aggregation and subsequent sedimentation of erythrocytes was monitored by a new rheological technique. A damped oscillation type rheometer used can sensitively measure logarithmic damping factor (LDF) which is closely related to fluidity or/and viscosity and viscoelasticity of blood. The LDF value increased and then decreased with the progress of aggregation and sedimentation of erythrocytes. The results were compared with the Westergren method which has been still used as a routine examination of erythrocyte sedimentation (ES) in clinical practice. Good correlations between the LDF curve and the ES curve were observed in blood of normal subjects and patients with different diseases. It is shown that the present method is capable of estimating the value of erythrocyte sedimentation at one hour within 10 to 20 minutes.
Keywords: erythrocyte sedimentation rate, aggregation of erythrocytes, rheological measurement, damped oscillation rheometer, the Westergren method
