Increased erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation in the peripheral venous blood of patients with ischaemic heart disease and an eventful course.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether increased erythrocyte aggregability has prognostic implications in patients with established ischaemic heart disease.


RESULTS
We have adopted a simple slide test and image analysis to reveal the state of erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation (EAA) in the peripheral blood of patients with ischaemic heart disease and an eventful course (n=46) as opposed to those with an uneventful (n=43) course. A significant correlation was noted between the results of the erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation test (EAAT) and either erythrocyte sedimentation or fibrinogen concentration. When we sampled the results of fibrinogen in the group of eventful course they were not significantly different from the results obtained in the uneventful one. This was the case with the results of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. However, the variables of the EAAT showed a significant difference, the values in the eventful group being higher than those observed in the uneventful one.


CONCLUSIONS
The EAAT is a valuable tool to disclose the presence of increased red blood cell aggregability in patients with ischaemic heart disease. Increased EAA might have prognostic implications in patients with ischaemic heart disease.
Berliner
S
S
Department of Internal Medicine D, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel.
Rotstein
R
R
Fusman
R
R
Shapira
I
I
Rogowski
O
O
Prochorov
V
V
Roth
A
A
Keren
G
G
Avitzour
D
D
Arber
N
N
Zeltser
D
D
D000368:Aged; D004903:Erythrocyte Aggregation / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010973:Platelet Adhesiveness / Q000502:physiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D014680:Veins / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*