Reduced deformability of erythrocytes exposed to hypercapnia.

The effect of hypercapnia on the deformability of erythrocytes was studied by means of a nuclepore membrane filter method. A decrement of the deformability by 20--40% was observed when PCO2 was increased from 50 mm Hg to 200 mm Hg, accompanied with an increment of 5% in hematocrit value.