01711nas a2200181   4500000000100000008004100001653001500042653002800057653002000085100001200105700002200117700001800139700001400157245014300171300001100314490000800325520119600333       2003                            d10aFibrinogen10aCardiovascular Diseases10aBlood viscosity1 aLowe G.1 aTunstall-Pedoe H.1 aWoodward Mark1 aRumley A.00aDoes sticky blood predict a sticky end? Associations of blood viscosity, haematocrit and fibrinogen with mortality in the West of Scotland  a645-500 v1223 a<p>
There is increasing evidence that blood viscosity and its major determinants (haematocrit, plasma viscosity and fibrinogen) are associated with an increased risk of incident cardiovascular events; however, their associations with mortality are not established. We therefore studied the associations of these variables with cardiovascular events and total mortality in 1238 men and women aged 25-64 years, followed for 13 years in the first North Glasgow MONICA (MONItoring CArdiovascular disease) survey and West of Scotland centres in the Scottish Heart Health Study. After adjustment for age and sex, increasing whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, haematocrit and fibrinogen (analysed by both von Clauss and heat precipitation assays) were significantly associated with mortality. Only the association for fibrinogen (von Clauss assay) remained significant after adjustment for major cardiovascular risk factors. We conclude that clottable fibrinogen may be independently associated with mortality. However, the significance of this association, and the extent to which viscosity is associated with mortality, remain to be established in larger studies and meta-analyses.
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