The flow of sickle blood in glass capillaries: Fundamentals and potential applications.

We have characterized the imbibed horizontal flow of sickle blood into 100-μm-diameter glass capillaries. We find that blood containing sickled cells typically traverses the capillaries between three and four times as slowly as oxygenated cells from the same patient for all genotypes tested, including SS, AS, SC and Sβ thalassemia blood. Blood from SS patients treated with hydroxyurea has a viscosity intermediate between the SS and AA values.