Sickle Cell Disease: New Opportunities and Challenges in Africa
Table 3
Summary of study outcomes for hydroxyurea use in adults and children.
Outcome
Impact in adults
Impact in adolescents
Clinical outcomes
Pain crises
↓ ↓↓
↓ ↓
Hospitalisations
↓ ↓↓
↓ ↓↓
Blood transfusion therapy
↓ ↓↓
↔ (insufficient data)
Acute chest syndrome
↓ ↓↓
↔ (insufficient data)
Laboratory markers
Foetal haemoglobin
↑↑↑
↑↑↑
Haemoglobin
↑↑↑
↔ (not significantly significant)
Mean corpuscular haemoglobin
↑↑↑
↑↑↑
White blood cell count
↓ ↓↓
↓ ↓↓
Prevention of end organ damage
Brain
↔
↔
Spleen
↔
↔
Kidney
↔
↔
Mortality
↓
↔=
↓ ↓↓: high-grade evidence for decrease; ↓: low-grade evidence for a decrease; ↑↑↑: high-grade evidence for increase; ↑: low-grade evidence for an increase; ↔: not evaluated/not significantly different/insufficient data. Source [152].