Sickle Cell Disease Management & Complications: Sophie Lanzkron MD of Johns Hopkins

Stuck on sickle cell disease? We hammer out the basics of diagnosis, common sickle cell variants and their manifestations, preventive medicine, acute and chronic pain management, opioid use, and how to recognize and treat common complications like anemia, fever and acute chest syndrome. There is no clinical/laboratory standard for confirming an acute sickle crisis. There are several variants of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) with treatment differences. Electrophoresis can confirm the diagnosis. Hydroxyurea can decrease crisis frequency, acute chest syndrome (ACS) events, need for transfusions, hospitalizations, and death. Indications for chronic red blood cell transfusion include: failed hydroxyurea therapy, severe disease with genoptyes other than HbSS, or secondary stroke prevention. Related story