title: Sickle cell blood flow in the microcirculation.
abstract: The clinical symptomology, as well as the subclinical sequela, of sickle-cell (S-C) disease, or anemia, is thought to be largely the consequence of abnormal events in the capillaries, resulting primarily from theological changes SC erythrocytes undergo when deoxygenated. A model of the flow of such RBCs in a single capillary was formulated taking into account the principal characteristics of the disease. This has been extended to a microcirculatory bed, generated in a pseudo-random manner. S-C disease is characterized by episodic painful and debilitating clinical events, called S-C "crisis". These studies, undertaken to evaluate possible causative mechanisms, suggest that the pressure available to drive the S-C RBCs through the microcirculation might be the control parameter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, California University, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Carlson