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Endothelialized Microfluidics for Studying Microvascular Interactions in Hematologic Diseases
11:08

Endothelialized Microfluidics for Studying Microvascular Interactions in Hematologic Diseases

Published on: June 22, 2012

Endothelium and hyperviscosity

Sandro Forconi1, Philip Wild, Thomas Munzel

  • 1Centro Siena-Toronto, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.

Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation
|January 5, 2012
PubMed

The role of viscosity, and of interindividual variations in this parameter, in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease remain incompletely understood. Any speculation regarding the possible impact of "hemorheological" therapies is therefore even more complex. In the last years, the debate regarding the relationship between increased viscosity and atherogenesis has been opened again. While the traditional view postulates that an increased blood viscosity has invariably a negative impact on tissue perfusion and therefore should be considered as a risk factor (when not as a true disease), a more recent hypothesis has been formulated based on the observation that small increases in viscosity actually have vasodilatory effects, potentially improving tissue perfusion.

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