The role of rheological and haemostatic factors in hypertension

Research into the pathogenesis of hypertension has, in the past, tended to concentrate on changes in vascular geometry, cardiac output and blood volume. However, patients with hypertension are known to be at an increased risk of both coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease; complications which are thrombotic in origin. Since rheological and haemostatic factors are known to be involved in thrombogenesis, their potential role in the pathogenesis of patients with hypertension has received increasing attention. The purposes of this review are to update previous reviews and to summarise the relationship between hypertension, its complications and treatment and a range of haemorheological factors.