Sickle cell anaemia, a study from the capital area of Oman

One hundred and six Omani children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) aged between 10 months and 16 years were studied by reviewing their medical notes and following their clinical course. All the cases were diagnosed on clinical presentation. Eighty-five percent were diagnosed below the age of 3 years. The clinical presentations and complications were compared with studies from Saudi Arabia and some other tropical countries. The frequency of hospitalization due to the complications of the disease is higher than that reported in other parts of Arabian Peninsula. The incidence of serious complications such as vasoocclusive, aplastic, hemolytic and sequestration crisis were high (91%, 1.9%, 59%, 6.7% respectively). Infection is more frequent. However, pneumococci were not the commonest isolated organism. G6PD deficiency was reported in 32% of cases which might explain the higher incidence of hemolytic crisis. Our study shows that SCA has a severe clinical course in Omanis. Because of the intermarriage of Omanis with Africans and Arabs, the nature of the SCA gene needs to be identified in this population.