HEMORHEOLOGICAL PROFILE IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS

In order to find out whether hemorheological alterations precede the a therosclerotic lesions and could constitute an atherothrombotic risk f actor,we studied the hemorheological profile in 150 healthy normotensi ve offspring whose parents were diagnosed as having essential hyperten sion WHO I-II grade and in another group of CO children with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) but without vascular atherosclerosis lesions , whose parents also suffer from FH. In offspring of hypertensive indi viduals, a significant increase in the fibrinogen level with respect t o the control group was found both in males and females. In addition, only the female offspring showed a higher leucocyte count. FH children showed increased erythrocyte aggregation and increased plasma viscosi ty with respect to the control group. The fact that the rheological al terations appear prior to the development of the vascular lesion sugge sts that they could play a role in the pathogenesis of the atheroscler otic process.