Clinical relevance of blood viscosity and red cell deformability including newer therapeutic aspects.

Peripheral ischemia is mostly due to narrowing of the vessels, although blood supply is also influenced by the hemorheologic properties of the blood. Recent research has revealed that abnormally high blood viscosity can be a contributing cause in ischemia. Therapeutically decreasing the blood viscosity improves the ischemia by increasing flow through the narrowed vessels and may as such offer a valuable alternative to surgery. Different possible therapeutic approaches for decreasing blood viscosity and the related clinical evidence are discussed.