High blood viscosity: An aetiological factor in venous thrombosis

Abstract

Abstract This is a preliminary report on a prospective study of 52 general surgical and gynaecological patients designed to investigate a possible relationship between a high blood viscosity and the development of deep venous, thrombosis (D. V. T.). The blood viscosity of the patients was measured immediately before operation and the development of venous thrombosis was monitored with the radioactive fibrinogen technique. The 11 patients who developed a D.V.T. had a blood viscosity, prior to operaton, 21 per cent higher than the patients who did not develop venous throbosis. The difference was 29 per cent if correction was made for variation in the heamatocrit. It was found that a general surgical patient, over 40 years of age, with a preoperatife blood viscosity above 4.3 cP (corrected to a heamatocrit of 45 per cent) will have a 73 per cent chance of deveiopin a D.V.T. after operation.