Patterns and Presentation of Sickle Cell Disease in Children AttendedPediatrics Emergency Department-Security Forces Hospital-RiyadhSaudi Arabia

Abstract

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a single gene disorder of human
beings. In the United States, about 72 000 people had SCD, and
2 million are carriers [1]. In Africa, more than 200 000 infants
per year are born with SCD [2]. In the 1960s, SCD was reported
in Saudi Arabia [3]. Saudi Arabia started multiple regional and
national screening studies to determine the clinical characteristics
and frequency of SCD genes in different regions of Saudi Arabia
[4-7]. The prevalence of SCD in Saudi Arabia is patchy, but now
SCD is an almost common genetic disorder with a carrier status
ranged from 2% to 27%, and up to 1.4% had SCD, in some areas
[3-7].