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Sickle Cell Disease in South Carolina: Screening, Education, Tracking,
and Stroke Prevention
Miguel R. Abboud, MD
College of Medicine
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Specific Aims:
- Decrease diagnosis to 30 days and put infants with sickle cell disease on penicillin by 2 months
- Enhance development of children with sickle cell disease
- Screen all children between the ages of 2 an 16 years old for high cerebral blood velocity by transcranial doppler
- Identify children with sickle cell disease at high risk for developing debilitating strokes via transcranial doppler and institute blood transfusions to prevent stroke
- Increase services through interagency coordination
- Collect outcome data
- Develop educational programs for health care providers, parents, community
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Sickle cell disease is an
inherited blood disorder common in African Americans. In South Carolina,
mandatory testing of newborns identifies about 100 infants with sickle
cell disease each year. Tests to confirm the diagnosis and early penicillin
prophylaxis (providing penicillin to prevent complications of the
disease including early death) are often delayed. Dr. Abboud's project
aims to test these newborns to verify their sickle cell disease and
provide the penicillin when they are less than 2 months old to prevent
early death. The project also has obtained a special machine called
a transcranial doppler to measure cerebral (brain) blood velocity
in children between the ages of 2 and 16 years old. Children with
sickle cell disease who also have high cerebral blood velocities will
get blood transfusions to prevent development of strokes.
Another aim of the project is to develop a model of how a number of
organizations can work together to address community needs. Educational
programs for current and future health care professionals, parents,
and community members will concentrate on social and emotional as
well as physical growth of these babies and children. Evaluation will
include a comparison of this program of early intervention for babies
identified with sickle cell disease with those getting the usual intervention
and an analysis of the use of the transcranial doppler and early blood
transfusions in older children with sickle cell disease in preventing
stroke.
This program treated over 60 children and provided continuing education
to over 500 health professionals. It was sustained with funding from
the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, SC DHEC, and corporate sponsors.
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