[Effect of alcoholic hyperlipoproteinemias on the deformability and viscosity of erythrocytes].

This pilot study set out to evaluate the influence of the metabolic disorder due to acute alcohol toxicity on red blood cell (RBC) deformability. RBC deformability was measured optoelectronically by microcomputer-assisted polymicroviscometry (filtrometry). Chronic alcoholic patients (n = 12) with transient haemolytic anaemia, jaundice and hyperlipoproteinaemia were studied during the acute and the remittent phase of alcoholic disease. RBC obtained from patients in the acute phase revealed a markedly impaired deformability as compared with RBC suspensions studied when the alcoholic symptoms had subsided. The study lends further support to the hypothesis that predominantly during acute alcohol toxicity patients experience a marked impairment of the adhesive and rheological properties of RBC, which may finally impair the peripheral microcirculation of the whole blood.