[Thixotropic properties of whole blood in children with congenital heart disease].

The thixotropic parameters of whole blood in two groups of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) were measured. Group 1. cyanotic heart disease (CCHD), 20 cases; Group 2. acyanotic heart disease (ACHD), 30 cases. Fifty healthy children were controls matched with the patients in sex and age. Their thixotropic parameters were compared; the paired t-test was used. In the children with CCHD, the hematocrit (HCT), the yield stress (tau 0) the Newtonian contribution of viscosity (mu), the equilibrium value of the structural parameter (A), the apparent viscosity at 2.37 sec-1 (eta s) and the Non-Newtonian contribution of viscosity (eta s-mu) were significantly higher than those in corresponding control groups. In the children with ACHD, only the values of tau 0, eta s-mu, and eta s were higher than those in control groups. All of the thixotropic parameters in CCHD group were significantly higher than those in ACHD group. Thus we described quantitatively CHD in terms of thixotropy of blood. The thixotropic parameters of blood could be used as indexes of severity for pathologic changes of CHD.