Blood Viscosity and Preferential Flow Patterns Influence the Optimization of Blood Circulation

Pop GA, Sloop GD, Weidman JJ, Moraru L and St Cyr JA

Published on: 2022-02-02

Abstract

In contemporary medical literature two essential aspects for optimal blood flow are often overlooked: blood viscosity and preferential flow patterns in the cardiovascular system. Blood is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means that its viscosity is not constant, but will rise exponentially at a lower blood velocity. Also, increased levels of inflammatory proteins will lead to hyperviscosity. In order to prevent too high levels of blood viscosity for adequate tissue perfusion, the organism has compensatory mechanisms of which anemia is the most important, explaining the occurrence of anemia in chronic inflammatory disorders and in heart failure. Simple hemodilution may also help to overcome a sudden rise in blood viscosity and erythropoietic drugs are not always beneficial to treat anemia. Preferential flow patterns are also important in order to transport blood at the lowest energy cost. Flow analysis after implantation of prosthetic heart valves indicates how disturbed flow patterns lead to increased valve gradients and underlines the importance of a maximal effort for valve reconstruction instead of valve replacement. Hemorheology and heart valves are both integrated into the optimization of our cardiovascular system and preliminary results have demonstrated that increased blood viscosity is linked to the occurrence of mitral annular calcification as well as aortic valve sclerosis.