Evaluation Of Prevalence Of Thromboembolic Events In Patients With Sickle Cell Disease At King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia

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Naif M. Alhawiti, Mohieldin Elsayid, Raniah S. Alotibi, Musaed M. Alshahrani

Abstract

Objectives Sickle cell disease is a monogenic autosomal recessive genetic disorder that associated with anemia, hypercoagulability and thrombosis. However, the prevalence and risk factors of SCD in the Saudi population is not well-established. This study was proposed to report the prevalence and risk factors associated with thromboembolic complications in patients with SCD visiting King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia


Methodology: This quantitative retrospective Cross-sectional study was carried out by digging though 289 patient medical records who are attending KAMC between February 2016 and February 2019, and are clinically diagnosed as SCD patients. Review included demographics of patients, as well as their hematological laboratory examinations with or without thromboembolic complications.


Results: The results of sickling hemoglobin screening test and hemoglobin electrophoresis procedures clinically confirmed that all patients had positive results for homozygous sickle cell disease (HgbSS). Among those tested patients, 21 patients (7.2%) developed common thromboembolic events and had vaso-occlusive crisis, deep venous thrombosis (DVT), stroke and pulmonary embolism (PE). Analysis of coagulation parameters of the patients with  these thromboembolic events showed  significant reduction in the activated partial prothrombin time (aPTT) and international normalized ratio (INR) as compared to SCD patients without these thromboembolic events.


Conclusion: Patients with SCD are at a higher risk for developing pathological thrombus formation. The existence of elevated hemoglobin S (HgbS) level and hypercoagulable state significantly facilitates the progression of vascular thrombotic diseases within the SCD patients.

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