Using a classic paper by Robin Fahraeus and Torsten Lindqvist to teach basic hemorheology

The viscosity of the blood in narrow capillary tubes by Robin Fahraeus and Torsten Lindqvist (Am J Physiol 96: 562-568, 1931) can be a valuable opportunity for teaching basic hemorheological principles in undergraduate cardiovascular physiology. This classic paper demonstrates that a progressive decline in apparent viscosity occurs when blood flows through glass capillary tubes of diminishing radius, which was later designated the Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect. Subsequent studies have shown that apparent viscosity continues to decline at diameters that correspond to the arteriolar segments of the systemic vascular tree, where the majority of the total peripheral resistance resides and is actively regulated in vivo. The Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect thus reduces microvascular resistance, thereby maintaining local tissue perfusion at a relatively lower blood pressure. The paper by Fahraeus and Lindqvist can be used as a platform for a plenary discussion of these concepts as well as of the relationships among hematocrit, vessel diameter, red blood cell deformability, and resistance to blood flow, and how these factors may affect the work of the heart.