Hemorheologic alterations in hypertension: chicken or egg?

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Meiselman, Herbert J.

Affiliations: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Southern California School of Medicine, 1333 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA Tel.: +1 323 442 1268; Fax: +1 323 442 2283; E‐mail: meiselma@hsc.usc.edu

Abstract: The serious pathophysiologic consequences of systemic hypertension have prompted numerous basic science and clinical studies related to cardiac or vascular abnormalities. More recently, hemorheologic alterations in hypertension have been explored in an attempt to determine the import of rheologic factors vis‐à‐vis the elevated total peripheral resistance observed in hypertensive patients. To date, various studies have documented several abnormalities (e.g., increased blood and plasma viscosity, elevated hematocrit), with some suggesting altered RBC or WBC rigidity. However, there is much less information relevant to the “chicken or egg” problems: (1) are reported hemorheological abnormalities the cause or the result of hypertension; (2) does normalization of blood pressure also normalize hemorheological parameters? In overview, the current literature indicates that hemorheology and hypertension may be linked, but that the details of this association and its cause‐effect relations remain unclear.

Journal: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 21, no. 3-4, pp. 195-200, 1999