Evaluation of transfusion practices in sickle cell disease in Senegal: cohort study of 1078 patients with sickle cell disease.

Blood transfusion is an essential therapeutic tool in the treatment of sickle cell disease. Its indications and modalities vary from one country to another as a function of the clinical severity of the disease and the availability of blood products. This study seeks to evaluate the frequency and modalities of blood transfusions as well as their indications in patients with sickle cell syndrome at the Dakar hematology department from 1995 through 2015. This retrospective study reviewed the records of a cohort of 1078 patients with SS, SC, Sβ0 and Sβ + thalassemia sickle cell syndromes and collected data about the type of blood products, indications, modalities, and acute transfusion complications. The frequency of transfusion was adjusted for age, sex, and sickle cell profile. The patients' mean age was 23 years (2-44 years) and the sex ratio 0.9. SS disease was predominant (87.4 %); 28.5% had transfusions during the study period. Patients older than 20 years received more transfusions (P = 0.047). The frequency of transfusions did not differ significantly by gender (P = 0.12), but did by profile: a higher percentage of patients with SS disease required transfusion (P = 0.043). Acute anemia was the most common indication for transfusion (50.03 %). Acute transfusion complications were rare (5.8 %). This study shows that less than one third of sickle cell anemia patients in Senegal have transfusions, a finding that confirms that our patients have fewer transfusions than patients in other countries in Africa or in the West. This limited use of transfusion therapy may be related to a less severe level of disease among patients in Senegal, but also to the availability of blood products.