Rheological evaluation of hemoglobin S and hemoglobin C hemoglobinopathies.

The concept of optimum hematocrit was used to compare the rheology of bloods from patients with various hemoglobin S and hemoglobin C hemoglobinopathies. The technique involved the utilization of cone and plate viscometric data to predict average flow rates under representative physiological-fluid mechanical conditions. The shape of the curve relating optimum hematocrit to oxygen tension, rather than the absolute magnitude of the optimum hematocrit at fixed oxygen tension, is shown to give an indication of clinical severity of the disease.