The rheological properties of blood and the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an important public health concern, which affects around 2-4% of the population. Left untreated, it causes a decrease not only in quality of life, but also of life expectancy. Despite the fact that knowledge about the mechanisms of development of cardiovascular disease in patients with OSA is still incomplete, observations confirm a relationship between sleep disordered breathing and the rheological properties of blood.

Sex-dependent differences in rheological properties and the relation of blood viscosity to erythrocyte aggregation indices among morbidly obese patients.

Some studies indicate that obesity is associated with rheological disturbances. Because there are usually sex differences in the type of obesity we decided to evaluate rheological differences between male and female obese patients. We studied 18 morbidly obese men, mean age 43.

Blood rheological profiles in patients with chronic urticaria.

Psychological factors, such as stress, anxiety, depression, as well as immuno-inflammatory processes may influence blood rheology. On the other hand, these factors may be involved in triggering, aggravating or maintenance of urticaria symptoms. The present study was designed to compare blood rheological properties of patients with chronic urticaria with positive response to autologous serum skin test (ASST) and negative response to ASST.

Blood rheological properties in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD).

Inflammatory processes and psychological states may mutually enhance each other as well as contribute to haemorheological alterations. The objective of the recent study was to determine blood rheological profile in patients with AD at different clinical stages. Blood rheology, as estimated by blood viscosity as well as deformability (elongation index-EI) and aggregation of erythrocytes (aggregation half time (AT1/2)--expressing the kinetic aspects and syllectogram amplitude (AMP)--representing total aggregation extent) were measured in 25 female AD patients, who showed clinical features of mild to severe AD and in 14 healthy subjects.

Short-term continuous positive airway pressure therapy reverses the pathological influence of obstructive sleep apnea on blood rheology parameters.

Our aim was to analyze rheological properties of blood and plasma in patients (n=31) with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) before and after five nights of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy as compared with a well-matched control group (n=19). Rheology measurements included blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, erythrocyte elongation and erythrocyte deformability variables specific to the aggregation process. The mean whole blood viscosity of the OSA groups was 18.