Hepatobiliary complications in patients with sickle cell disease: A 30-year review of 1009 patients.

BACKGROUND

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common hemoglobinopathy. We aimed to identify the prevalence of hepatobiliary injury and its association with mortality in SCD.

METHODS

Patients with SCD followed at a dedicated clinic at our tertiary center were retrospectively evaluated with descriptive statistics. Correlations between hepatobiliary complications and SCD complications were expressed as ORs. To evaluate mortality predictors, log-rank testing was used for univariate analysis and Cox proportional hazards for multivariable analysis, with time-dependent covariates for biochemistry.

RESULTS

Between January 1990 and December 2020, 1009 patients with SCD were identified; 63.2% were HbSS. The median age at first clinic visit was 26.4 years (IQR: 18.9-37.1), 44.3% were male, and 62.6% were ever treated with hydroxyurea. The median follow-up was 4.8 years (IQR: 1.9-8.5); mortality was 8.9%. The most frequent hepatobiliary manifestations were cholelithiasis (n=431 [42.7%]) and iron overload (n=121; 12%). Chronic viral hepatitis was reported in only 18 patients. Twenty-nine patients (2.1%) had peak ALT> 2× upper limit of normal, 15 (2.3%) had peak ALP> 2× upper limit of normal, 97 (10.3%) had peak total bilirubin >103 μmol/L, (6.02 mg/dL), and 184 (18.2%) patients had elevated peak direct bilirubin. Hepatomegaly was reported in 37 patients (3.7%), while 24 patients (2.4%) were clinically cirrhotic. Five patients received a liver transplant. In an exploratory multivariate model, age (HR 1.08 [95% CI: 1.05-1.11]), ALT elevation (HR 1.52 [95% CI: 1.29-1.78]), and total bilirubin >103 μmol/L (HR 9.3 [95% CI: 3.95-21.9]) predicted mortality independently.

CONCLUSIONS

Hepatobiliary complications are common in patients with SCD and require vigilance for identification.