These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: High rate of sickle cell anaemia in Sub-Saharan Africa underlines the need to screen all children with severe anaemia for the disease.
    Author: Kadima BT, Gini Ehungu JL, Ngiyulu RM, Ekulu PM, Aloni MN.
    Journal: Acta Paediatr; 2015 Dec; 104(12):1269-73. PubMed ID: 25982693.
    Abstract:
    AIM: Neonatal screening for sickle cell anaemia is not common practice in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we determined the prevalence in children with unknown electrophoresis of haemoglobin and anaemia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in four hospitals in the country's capital Kinshasa. RESULTS: We screened 807 patients with anaemia (Hb < 6 g/dL) for sickle cell disease. The overall mean age at presentation was 42.7 months ± 29.7 months, and most patients (76.3%) were less than five years of age, with a peak incidence at seven to 36 months of age (45%). The median age at the first transfusion was 29 months (range 4-159 months). Of these 807 children, 36 (4.5%) were homozygous for haemoglobin S disease and 45 (5.6%) were heterozygotes. The proportion of patients with homozygous sickle cell anaemia was slightly higher in children with a medical history of hand foot syndrome, in children who had received more than three transfusions and in children up to 36 months of age at their first transfusion. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of sickle cell anaemia in children in Sub-Saharan Africa underlines the need for neonatal screening or, if that is not possible, screening of all children with severe anaemia to identify patients with the disease and provide early management.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]