Sickle cell crisis: A crisis of a different sort?
Longxiang XieAyesha Ateeq Al MuwaijeiAman Preet Singh SohalPublished in: Archives of disease in childhood. Education and practice edition (2018)
A 9-year-old boy with sickle cell disease (SCD) was presented to the emergency department with acute headache and swelling over his bilateral temporoparietal region. There was no history of antecedent trauma, fever, vomiting or other features of an intercurrent illness. On arrival, his blood pressure was 112/62 mm Hg, heart rate was 98/min and his Glasgow Coma Scale score was 15/15. There was evidence of significant scalp tenderness over the bilateral temporoparietal region. A complete neurological examination including direct and consensual pupillary response was unremarkable. Initial investigations revealed haemoglobin of 9.6 g/dL, leucocyte count of 6.8/mm3, platelet count of 219/mm3 and a normal coagulation profile. His current medications included hydroxyurea and penicillin prophylaxis. He underwent an urgent CT of the head followed by MRI of the brain, which revealed abnormalities as depicted in figures 1,2 edpract;103/6/290/F1F1F1Figure 1CT head. edpract;103/6/290/F2F2F2Figure 2MRI brain. QUESTION 1: Is this one of the most common neurological presentation seen in sickle cell crisis? QUESTION 2: How common is this presentation in paediatric SCD? QUESTION 3: What is the best way to manage this child?
Keyphrases
- heart rate
- contrast enhanced
- blood pressure
- emergency department
- public health
- magnetic resonance imaging
- heart rate variability
- case report
- cerebral ischemia
- computed tomography
- white matter
- magnetic resonance
- resting state
- dual energy
- image quality
- diffusion weighted imaging
- single cell
- optic nerve
- liver failure
- intensive care unit
- hypertensive patients
- functional connectivity
- peripheral blood
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- respiratory failure
- mental health
- positron emission tomography
- drug induced
- metabolic syndrome
- brain injury
- blood brain barrier
- multiple sclerosis
- abdominal pain
- weight loss
- adverse drug
- pet ct
- hepatitis b virus