[Hemorheologic effect on the long-term course of peripheral arteriosclerotic circulatory disorders in the elderly]

The authors report the progress of arteriosclerotic circulatory disturbances of the legs (stage II according to Fontaine) in 32 male patients aged between 47 and 60 years. According to the risk factor profile (smoking, hyperlipoproteinaemia, or hypertension), 2 patients each were linked to form matched pairs. It showed that in the group of patients with raised haematocrit reading the reactive circulation through the legs decreased significantly with constant intermittent claudication within 4 years. The group with lower haematocrit reading, however, showed no significant decrease of the peak flow, the walking ability increased considerably.