Affiliations: Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Palermo, Italy | Department of Internal Medicine, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
Abstract: On a randomly selected western Sicily population sample (Casteldaccia Study: 600 subjects; 300 males and 300 females) of an age range from 40 to 79 years, were determined: Haematocrit (Htc) , blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, filterability of whole blood and fibrinogen. Participation was 97%, being 582 subjects (M = 287, F = 295). All the parameters measured showed a progressive increase with age and significant differences were found between male and female subjects: Htc and blood viscosity were higher in male subjects (p < 0.01), while plasma viscosity, whole blood filterability and fibrinogen were higher in female subjects (p < 0.05). In subjects who smoke, compared to non-smokers, all the haemorheological variables had significantly higher values (p < 0.005). Analysis of simple linear regressions showed a positive correlation between Htc and blood viscosity (r = 0.80), between plasma viscosity and fibrinogen (r = 0.81), between filterability and fibrinogen (r = 0.59) and between plasma viscosity and filterability (r = 0.64). Fibrinogen, plasma viscosity and filterability of whole blood were positively correlated with age (r = 0.37, r = 0.46, r = 0.41 respectively). The authors conclude that the measurement of haemorheological variables is a necessary for the assessment of cardiovascular risk, especially in subjects in age range 40–79 years.
