Whole blood viscosity in preeclampsia.
Whole blood viscosity was measured in 41 patients with preeclampsia and in 51 normotensive control subjects. The mean viscosity in the preeclamptic group had a highly significant elevation (t = 9.752, p less than 0.001, at a shear rate of 0.1 sec-1 and t = 4.223, p less than 0.001, at a shear rate of 100 sec-1). The slower shear rate gave the better discrimination between the two groups as only four patients with preeclampsia had a value within 1 SD of the mean of the control group. It is suggested that the measurement of whole blood viscosity may be clinically useful in the management of patients with preeclampsia.
D001794:Blood Pressure; D001809:Blood Viscosity; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011379:Prognosis