Hig
h blood viscosity causes blood stagnation and subsequent pat
hological t
hrombotic events, resulting in t
he development of isc
hemic stroke. We
hypot
hesize t
hat t
he contribution of blood viscosity may differ among isc
hemic stroke subtypes based on specific pat
hological conditions. We tried to verify t
his
hypot
hesis by measuring blood viscosity in acute isc
hemic stroke patients using a newly developed electromagnetic spinning sp
here (EMS) viscometer.<
h4 id="absSec_2">Met
hods
h4>
Measurements in acute ischemic stroke patients were performed 4 times during admission and data were compared with those obtained from 100 healthy outpatient volunteers.
<
h4 id="absSec_3">Results
h4>
We enrolled 92 patients (cardioembolism: 25, large artery atherosclerosis: 42, and small artery occlusion [SAO]: 25) in this study. Comparisons of blood viscosity between the ischemic stroke subgroups and control group revealed that blood viscosity at the date of admission was significantly higher in the SAO group (5.37 ± 1.11 mPa⋅s) than in the control group (4.66 ± .72 mPa⋅s) (P < .01). Among all subtype groups showing a reduction in blood viscosity after 2 weeks, the SAO group showed the highest and most significant reduction, indicating that SAO patients had the most concentrated blood at the onset.
<
h4 id="absSec_4">Conclusions
h4>
Blood viscosity was significantly increased in the SAO group at the date of admission, which indicated the contribution of dehydration to the onset of ischemic stroke. The importance of dehydration needs to be emphasized more in the pathogenesis of SAO. The clinical application of the EMS viscometer is promising for understanding and differentiating the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke.