Sickle Cell Anemia

Definition

Sickle cell anemia is a disease passed down through families in which red blood cells form an abnormal crescent shape. (Red blood cells are normally shaped like a disc.)

Symptoms

Symptoms usually don't occur until after age 4 months.

Almost all patients with sickle cell anemia have painful episodes (crises), which can last from hours to days. These crises can affect the bones of the back, the long bones, and the chest.

Some patients have one episode every few years. Others have many episodes per year. The crises can be severe enough to require a hospital stay.

Common symptoms include:

• Attacks of abdominal pain
• Bone pain
• Breathlessness
• Delayed growth and puberty
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Jaundice
• Paleness
• Rapid heart rate
• Ulcers on the lower legs (in adolescents and adults)

Other symptoms include:

• Chest pain
• Excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Painful and prolonged erection (priapism - occurs in 10 - 40% of men with the disease)
• Poor eyesight/blindness
• Strokes
• Skin ulcers

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