Evaluation of erythrocyte deformability in patients with hypertension

Background. In the longterm course of hypertension, changes occur not only at the systemic, but also at the membrane level. The predominance of red blood spherocytic cells in hypertension, due to the low deformability of their membrane, can lead to further deterioration of the perfusion of the microcirculatory bed and the development of oxygen starvation of tissues. It is important to assess the extent of gas exchange disorders in organs and tissues in hypertension as early as possible in order to choose the correct and timely treatment strategy for patients with this disease. Currently, in order to assess the ability of red blood cells to deformability in the conditions of clinical units, it is necessary to have special equipment, certain conditions and specialist qualifications.

Design and methods. We have developed a method of evaluating deformability of erythrocytes in hypertensive patients. The method includes measuring the patient’s blood pressure, blood sampling, lipidogram, measuring red blood cell parameters on a hematological analyzer with the calculation of the red blood cell sphericity index, and calculating the indicator of the red blood cell membrane deformability by the proposed formula.

Conclusions. This method allows of timely diagnostics of the systemic microcirculation abnormality in hypertensive patients. The proposed method is intended for pathophysiologists, physicians, cardiologists, specialists of clinical laboratory diagnostics, it can also be applied for research purposes.

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