A clinico-epidemiological study of sickle cell anaemia in Saudi Arabia.

Ninety-nine Saudi Arabian children aged between 3 months and 15 years attending the sickle cell anaemia (SCA) clinic were studied using a review of case notes and an interview at clinic visits. All the patients come from the southwest and west area of Saudi Arabia. Despite the lack of infant screening for SCA, 73 per cent were diagnosed before the age of 3 years, reflecting severe early symptoms of the disease. The serious complications of SCA were two times higher, the number of admissions were three times higher and the attack rate for pneumococcal meningitis was nine times higher in our study population than previously reported from the Eastern Province of the country. Hand-foot syndrome was the commonest complication affecting 58 per cent of the children. It has been stated previously that there is no need to give penicillin prophylaxis to SCA children in Saudi Arabia, based on the observations in the Eastern Province only. Our study shows that SCA in western and southwestern population of Saudi Arabia is as severe as is described in American blacks. Therefore, we recommend penicillin prophylaxis to be given to the SCA children in the southwest and west regions of the country.