CSS is the minimum shear stress needed to disaggregate RBC aggregation, and appears to be an excellent index to represent RBC aggregation.
First, CSS is hematocrit-independent so hematocrit correction is not required, whereas for the CSR, the AI increases and the threshold shear-rate decreases when the hematocrit increases.
Second, CSS holding dimensional unit such as the millipascal (mPa) is a more physical value to compare directly with those measured with other devices than any other aggregation indexes. Most conventional aggregation indexes such as the M-index use arbitrary unit; therefore, the results obtained cannot be compared across studies.
Furthermore, CSS also reflects cellular factors as well as plasmatic factors. Therefore, CSS appears to be a potentially useful index to represent RBC aggregation.