Sickle cell diseases: current therapeutic options and potential pitfalls in preventive therapy for transcranial Doppler abnormalities

Randomized trial of hypnosis as a pain and symptom management strategy in adults with sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common genetic disease in African-Americans, characterized by recurrent painful vaso-occlusive crises. Medical therapies for controlling or preventing crises are limited because of efficacy and/or toxicity. This is a randomized, controlled, single-crossover protocol of hypnosis for managing pain in SCD patients. Participants receive hypnosis from a trained hypnosis therapist followed by six weeks of self-hypnosis using digital media. Those in the control arm receive SCD education followed by a six-week waiting period before crossing over to the hypnosis arm of the study. Outcome measures include assessments of pain (frequency, intensity and quality), anxiety, coping strategies, sleep, depression, and health care utilization. To date, there are no published randomized, controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of hypnosis on SCD pain modulation in adults. Self-hypnosis for pain management may be helpful in modulating chronic pain, improving sleep quality, and decreasing use of narcotics in patients with SCD.

Stroke Prevention Trial in Sickle Cell Anemia (STOP): extended follow-up and final results

The Stroke Prevention Trial in Sickle Cell Anemia (STOP) was a randomized trial to evaluate whether chronic transfusion could prevent initial stroke in children with sickle-cell anemia at high risk as determined by transcranial Doppler (TCD). The trial demonstrated a large benefit of transfusion and was halted early. After termination of the trial, patients participated in a post-trial follow-up study. More patients in the transfusion group (70%) elected transfusion for primary stroke prevention compared with those on standard care (45%). Six patients with persistently abnormal TCD results developed stroke. A minority with initially abnormal TCD results remained stroke-free without transfusion. Except for lower baseline and follow-up TCD velocities compared with those with stroke, no predictive features of this apparent lower-risk subgroup could be determined. TCD results at last testing in 108 patients that did not have stroke were: normal (44.4%), conditional (26.9%), abnormal (22.2%), and inadequate (6.5%). Patients on transfusion were more likely to have normal TCD results. Transfusion resulted in iron overload and alloimmunization, but no infection. The study provides new information on acceptance rates and long-term effects of transfusion. Persistent TCD elevation signals ongoing stroke risk. Reduction in TCD results over time without transfusion is observed in some patients and requires further study.

Neurological Soft Signs as the Stroke Risk in Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a common form of hemoglobinopathy and is highly prevalent worldwide. Silent cerebral infarction, which represents infarction without clinical signs, is a risk factor for clinical stroke in patients with SCD. It is well known that silent infarction predisposes patients with SCD to overt stroke. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of silent infarction on neurological soft signs (NSS), which demonstrate subtle impairments in sensory integration, motor coordination and the sequencing of complex motor acts and to evaluate whether NSS can be used in clinical practice to evaluate the patients at risk of stroke in SCD patients with silent infarction. Fifty-nine SCD patients without any documented history of cerebrovascular accident and 28 healthy controls were included in this study. All the patients with SCD were evaluated with cerebral magnetic resonance imaging. We found that the NSS scores were significantly higher in patients with silent cerebral infarction than those in patients without silent infarction and control subjects (p < 0.05). Importantly, there was no significant difference in the NSS scores between the patients without silent infarction and control subjects. These results indicate that high NSS scores represnt an important finding for diagnosis of silent infarction in SCD patients. As silent infarction increases the risk for stroke in patients with SCD, NSS can be used to provide additional information in diagnosis of the patients with possible stroke risk during the course of SCD.