Microcirculatory stasis induced by hemorheological disorders: further evidence.

OBJECTIVE

Reinvestigate the microcirculatory alterations immediately responsible for blood rheological disorders and blood stases, which are related to red blood cell (RBC) aggregation in capillaries.

METHODS

Blood rheological disorders were produced by significantly intensified intravascular red blood cell aggregation in the intestinal mesentery of Wistar rats and in the cerebral cortex of Chinchilla rabbits, either systemically (by intravascular administration of high molecular-weight dextran) or locally (by increase of high-molecular compounds in blood plasma inside individual or groups of capillaries).

RESULTS

Under conditions where the microvascular lumina were not decreased and the arteriolovenular pressure gradients got even higher, the significantly enhanced intravascular RBC aggregation resulted in the slowing down of blood flow in the microvessels to a full stop.

CONCLUSION

A significant increase in microvascular RBC aggregation results in local hemorheological disorders, which is, in all probability, related to derangement of the blood-flow structuring in microvessels.