Peripheral circulation in the newborn: interaction of peripheral blood flow, blood pressure, blood volume, and blood viscosity.

Peripheral blood flow and systolic blood pressure (strain-gauge plethysmograph), blood volume (Evans blue) and whole blood viscosity (cone-plate viscometer) have been measured in 66 premature and full-term infants 6 to 144h of age. Blood flow and blood volume were moderately decreased in the infants with respiratory distress. Highly significant (P less than 0.001) correlations were found between blood flow and blood volume (r = 0.77), blood pressure and blood volume (r = 0.50), peripheral resistance and blood volume (r = -0.44), blood flow and blood pressure (r = 0.50), blood flow and peripheral resistance (r = -0.67), peripheral resistance and blood viscosity (r = 0.45), and blood viscosity and haematocrit (r = 0.86). There was no correlation between peripheral blood flow and blood viscosity. However, at given blood volume, peripheral blood flow decreased with increasing blood viscosity. These results indicate that in newborn infants peripheral blood flow, blood pressure and peripheral resistance are influenced by blood volume, but also depend on blood viscosity.