Leucocyte Motion During Gravity Sedimentation of Whole Blood

Abstract

The rate of leucocyte accumulation was measured in the upper half of the Westergren tube after 1 h of gravity sedimentation of whole blood. The increment of leucocyte concentration, i.e. leucocyte antisedimentation rate (LAR), was determined as a percentage of the original leucocyte count. LAR was measured in 15 patients after surgical intervention in the early postoperative period. C-reac- tive protein (CRP), the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and the severity score of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) were also assessed simultaneously. There was a significant positive correlation between SIRS scores and LAR (r, 0.493; p<0.01). However, the correlation between SIRS scores and ESR and between SIRS scores and CRP was not significant (r, 0.346, NS; and r, 0.017, NS, respectively). In conclusion, LAR is superior to ESR and CRP in monitoring systemic inflammation (septic complications) in patients after thoracic and abdominal tumour resection.