Hypertrophic tonsils in sickle cell patients in ghana.

BACKGROUND

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is one of the commonest genetic blood disorders in the world and principally affects people of African, Mediterranean and Asian origin. It is an established fact that SCD patients often present with hypertrophic tonsils and as such

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypertrophic tonsils in sickle cell disease patients in Ghana.

METHOD: This is a case control prospective study involving sickle cell disease-SS patients aged between 2 and 13 years and 40 aged-matched controls who met the inclusion criteria at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana. The participants were examined using head lamp and a Breuning's tongue depressor. The tonsils sizes were estimated using the Brodsky's criteria.

RESULT: This study showed 93.1% of the patients presenting with various degrees of tonsillar hypertrophy. Thirty-four percent presented with grade 3 Brodsky's hypertrophy, 24. 6% with grade 2, 20.1% with grade 4 and 14.2% with grade 1. Only 6.9% presented with Brodsky grade 0.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of hypertrophic tonsils is very high among sickle cell patients in Kumasi, Ghana.