Placebo-controlled, double-blind study of haemodilution in peripheral arterial disease

Twenty-four men who had stable claudication with long, collateralized femoropopliteal obstructions were treated by isovolaemic haemodilution and sham dilutions in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. 3 weeks of haemodilution lowered haematocrit and blood viscosity and increased resting blood flow and pain-free walking distance. Sham treatment produced no such favourable changes. It is concluded that haemodilution therapy can be clinically effective in patients with arterial obstructions in the legs. It seems particularly promising when the vascular obstructions are such that low average shear stresses act on the blood in multiple, long collaterals.