Viscoelasticity and red blood cell aggregation in patients with coronary heart disease.

Viscoelastic parameters were evaluated in 169 consecutive male patients with clinical signs of coronary heart disease. The patients were classified according to the extent of coronary artery stenosis. Levels of blood viscosity, erythrocyte aggregation, and plasma viscosity were elevated in patients with extensive coronary vessel disease. However, the differences between the several groups were not statistically significant. The increase of hemorheologic parameters was mainly due to high hematocrit, fibrinogen, and cholesterol concentrations. There was a significant correlation between plasma fibrinogen values and plasma viscosity levels. Blood viscosity and erythrocyte aggregation can be described by multiple linear regression as a function of the sum of log hematocrit, fibrinogen, cholesterol, and alpha 2-macroglobulin.