TITLE:
Reasons for Consultation of Sickle Cell Patients at the Center for Mixed Medicine and SS Anemia
AUTHORS:
Paulin Mulowayi, Berry Bongenya, Ben Bulanda, Elvis Kateba, Steve Kodondi, Christian Vangu, Blezz Nkolomoni, Erick N. Kamangu
KEYWORDS:
Sickle Cell Patients, Consultation, CMASS, Kinshasa
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.9 No.9,
September
30,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background: Sickle cell disease is an autosomal recessive genetic disease characterized by a point mutation. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, approximately 40,000 newborns are born with sickle cell disease. Objective: The objective of the study is to determine the predominant reasons for consultation of sickle cell patients at the Center of Mixed Medicine and SS Anemia (CMMASS) in Kinshasa. Methods: This study was conducted at CMMASS. It is a retrospective study carried out on the files of elderly sickle cell patients who came for consultation in the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020. Any well-kept file of sickle cell patients over the age of 18 with a documented electrophoresis result having consulted during the study period was considered for work. The parameters of interest in this work were the different reasons for consultation. Results: 2463 SS homozygous sickle cell patients had been seen in consultation at the CMMASS. 1350 patients (54.8%) were women; thus giving a sex ratio of 1.21 in favor of women. The most represented age group is that of 18 to 25 years with 1148 patients (46.6%). The most common reasons for consultation in the series were osteoarticular pain (61.75%), fever (24.48%), pallor (12.59%), headache (7.8%), and cough (2.56%). Conclusion: Bone and joint pain was the most dominant reason for consultation among homozygous sickle cell patients at the CMMASS during the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020.