Sickle cell anemia- clinical manifestations in 100 patients and review of the literature.

The clinical and hematological features of 100 patients with sickle cell anemia are reviewed. The heart was enlarged and a murmur was heard in nearly 80 percent of patients. Pneumonia and pulmonary infarction occurred in 43 percent and 12 percent of patients, respectively. Musculoskeletal involvement included the hand-foot syndrome (15 percent), leg ulcers (55 percent), aseptic necrosis ofbone (11 percent), and osteomyelitis (4 percent). Symptoms and signs related to the gastrointestinal system included jaundice (55 percent), hepatomegaly (50 percent), splenomegaly (23 percent), hepatitis (11 percent) and gallstones (9 percent). Three patients underwent cholecystectomy and three patients had their spleens removed. Pyelonephritis occurred in 17 patients, priapism in five and hematuria in seven. Nineteen women had 39 pregnancies, of which 35 resulted in the birth of healthy infants. At least 328 painful crises occurred in 73 patients. There were also 13 hemolytic crises, eight sequestration crises, and five aplastic crises. A trail of alkali therapy in 33 crises in children failed to produce beneficial effects greater than hydration and analgesics alone as used in the control group. Laboratory findings in the 100 patients were comparable to those previously reported in the literature. The renal concentrating defect in most patients was confirmed. There were six deaths: hepatic coma secondary to post-transfusion hepatitis, thrombosis of inferior vena cava, congestive heart failure, exsanguination from erosion of the pancreaticoduodenal artery, extensive bronchopneumonia, and pulmonary infarction.