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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Measuring Deformability and Red Cell Heterogeneity in Blood by Ektacytometry
Published on: January 12, 2018
Early red blood cell abnormalities as a clinical variable in sepsis diagnosis
Eunji Ko1, Jung Min Youn2, Hyung Sun Park1
1Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Sepsis is a medical emergency during which early detection is closely associated with mortality. In sepsis, red blood cell (RBC) abnormalities have been reported. However, it is not known how early RBC abnormalities are expressed compared with various clinical manifestations used in sepsis-related organ failure assessment (SOFA).
Objective:
Therefore, using a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis model we investigated the clinical significance of RBC abnormalities as an early indicator in the detection of septic injury compared with clinical variables.
Methods:
Sprague-Dawley rats received LPS (20 mg/kg) intraperitoneally. Aggregation indices (AIs) and aggregation half-time (T1/2), and elongation indices (EI max) were measured. Clinical data-related SOFA and lactate were measured at 2 h, 4 h, 8 h and 12 h after LPS injection.
Results:
AIs increased at 4 h, and T1/2 decreased at 2 h after LPS injection. Platelet counts decreased at 4 h, and lactate increased at 2 h after LPS injection. AIs showed strong correlations with T1/2 and platelets, EI max increased at 2 h after LPS injection, while EI max had a positive correlation with lactate.
Conclusions:
RBC aggregation appears to be an early indicator of clinical deterioration in sepsis and may represent a diagnostic indicator in sepsis.
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