[Hemorheologic changes in chronic polyarthritis]

The haemorheological status of plasma-(P eta) and blood-viscosity (B eta), erythrocyte aggregation (EA) and erythrocyte filterability (EF), blood sedimentation rate (BSG), haematocrit (HCT), plasma fibrinogen and alpha-2-macroglobulin was investigated on 46 patients suffering from chronic polyarthritis (c.P.). The results were compared with those from a control group of 20 healthy subjects with a similar distribution of age and sex. All the haemorheological data from the c.P. patients showed a significantly decreased blood fluidity (p less than or equal to 0.001 or p less than or equal to 0.01). These differences were highly significant for the female patients (n = 29), but for the men (n = 17) only at slight shift was seen. The comparison of clinically acute and non-acute disease in the patients showed a significant worsening of P eta, B eta and EF during the acute state, while the EA remained unaffected. The limited blood fluidity is seen as a result of the basic illness. At present, the pathophysiological meaning of these findings is still hypothetical: further investigations are required.