Sickle cell disease study gets started
The first five-year, comprehensive, longitudinal, prospective, cooperative study on the clinical course of sickle cell disease has begun at 23 hospitals in large urban centers.
Recruited as subjects will be 4,000 patients, including newborns, children, adolescents, and adults.
The research is funded and directed by the Sickle Cell Disease Branch, Division of Blood Diseases and Resources, of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Md.
There are several project objectives, says Marilyn Gaston, MD, director of the study, including:
Study of the effects of sickle cell disease on growth and development from the newborn to adolescent stages of life.
Study of the pattern of the hallmark and so-called "painful crisis" events that occur as the sickled cells become rigid.
Study of how sickle cell disease affects other health events, such as the course of infectious diseases or pregnancy.
Study of how sickle cell