Magnetic resonance in medicine : official journal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
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Aggregation of human erythrocytes at physiological hematocrit by hydroxyethyl starch (HES) was investigated with a 1H nuclear magnetic resonance method which measures the erythrocyte mean water exchange time, tau a. A relationship that takes into account the effect of the aggregate as the water-exchanging unit was used to transform tau a values into the number of cells per aggregate, n. ⋯ The aggregation of erythrocytes in the presence of HES was found to follow first-order kinetics. The feasibility of this technique for application in the study of diseased states is indicated.