Sickle Cell Disease: New Opportunities and Challenges in Africa

Table 2

The prevalence of selected clinical consequences of SCD.

Clinical event	Prevalence	References
Haemolysis
Anaemia	Chronic	[57–59]
Cholelithiasis	Prevalence is 40% by adolescence	[60, 61]
Aplastic anaemia	Associated with parvovirus B19 infection	[61–63]
Hyperhemolysis	Limited reports from Africa	[64–67]
Vasoocclusion
Pain	More than 60% patients; Most common cause of admission; Frequent pain is a risk factor for mortality	[22, 23, 68, 69]
Acute splenic sequestration (ASS)	Frequently occurs before the age of 3 yrs	[23, 70, 71]
Leg ulcers	Prevalence is 10–25% adults	[72, 73]
Priapism	Prevalence is 10–40% males; Occurs frequently in 5–14 years age group	[74]
Organ dysfunction
Neurological events
Stroke	Prevalence is 10% in children risk factor for mortality; High rate of recurrence; Leads to poor quality of life	[75]
Cognitive/silent	Prevalence is 20%; Risk factor for overt stroke; Leads to impairment of executive function	[76–79]
Retinopathy	Prevalence is >30% in HbSC	[80]
Chest
Acute chest syndrome (ACS)	Prevalence is 40%; Occurs frequently in children; Has severe consequences in adults 12.8 per 100-patient years 59	[54–56]
Pulmonary hypertension	Prevalence is 30%; Risk factor for mortality	[79, 81–84]
Avascular necrosis of femoral head	Prevalence is 10–50% in adults	[85–87]
Renal disease	Prevalence of chronic renal failure is 5%–20%	[88]
Infections
Malaria	There is low prevalence of malaria in SCD. However, when malaria occurs in SCD it is associated with increased risk of morbidity due to severe anaemia and mortality	[89, 90]
Bacterial infections	10% children under 5 years	[91]

Modified from [92, 93].