Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurology, University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, Portland, Oregon 97201 | [b] Department of Pathology, Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center, Portland, Oregon 97210 | [c] Biocolloid Science Research Laboratory, Providence Medical Center, Portland, Oregon 97213
Note: [] Accepted by: Editor A.L. Copley
Abstract: Analysis of extensive data in the literature plus a survey of our own limited clinical results indicate that changes in plasma viscosity (PV) primarily reflect alterations in the concentration of plasma macromolecules. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and zeta sedimentation ratio (ZSR) tests mainly detect the presence of macromolecules in the plasma which produce rouleaux or aggregates. The ESR test as presently used is, however, more prone to produce data supporting erroneous conclusion than the ZSR. It currently seems reasonable to eliminate ESR measurements and use only PV and ZSR measurements in clinical evaluations.
