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[Decreased blood fluidity in progressive systemic scleroderma]
E Ernst1, E F Lohmaier, M Meurer
1Abt. Physikalische Medizin und Rehabilitation, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover.
Zeitschrift Fur Rheumatologie
|May 1, 1990
Abstract:
The aim was to define blood rheology in progressive systemic scleroderma (PSS). 55 patients were compared to controls. Blood and plasma viscosity, hematocrit, red cell aggregation, and deformability were measured. Except for hematocrit, all these variables are significantly altered, indicating a loss of blood fluidity in PSS. Drugs had no obvious effect on blood rheology, but the clinical picture did. The loss of blood fluidity in PSS is suggested to play a pathophysiological role in the initiation of Raynaud phenomena, from which all patients suffered.