A novel approach for assessments of erythrocyte sedimentation rate

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have shown that the dispersed phase of sedimenting blood undergoes dramatic structural changes: Discrete red blood cell (RBC) aggregates formed shortly after a settling tube is filled with blood are combined into a continuous network followed by its collapse via the formation of plasma channels, and finally, the collapsed network is dispersed into individual fragments. Based on this scheme of structural transformation, a novel approach for assessments of erythrocyte sedimentation is suggested. METHODS: Information about erythrocyte sedimentation is extracted from time records of the blood conductivity measured after a dispersion of RBC network into individual fragments. RESULTS: It was found that the sedimentation velocity of RBC network fragments correlates positively with the intensity of attractive intercellular interactions, whereas no effect of hematocrit (Hct) was observed. CONCLUSION: Thus, unlike Westergren erythrocyte sedimentation rate, sedimentation data obtained by the proposed method do not require correction for Hct.