Causes of death in sickle-cell disease in Jamaica.

A review of the causes of death in 276 patients with sickle-cell disease showed that although the greatest mortality occurred in the first five years of life, roughly one-quarter were aged over 30. Commonest causes of death in the first ten years included acute splenic sequestration, septicaemia, meningitis, aplastic crises, and gastroenteritis. In older patients cerebrovascular accidents and renal failure became common. The acute chest syndrome affected all age groups about equally but appeared to result predominantly from infection in the young and embolism or thrombosis in the old.