Active clinical trials for "Anemia, Sickle Cell"

Bearers of the sickle cell allele (S) are currently eligible for blood donations in Belgium. As blood donors are not tested for this allele, their heterozygous status is unknown. However, guidelines recommend to transfuse sickle cell patients with blood that is negative for the 'S' hemoglobin. To the investigator's knowledge, no study has been conducted to evaluate the impact of transfusion with blood originating from heterozygous donors on the transfusion performance and the improvement of clinical status of the sickle cell disease patients.

Sickle cell patients have a high prevalence of alloimmunization. This high rate of alloimmunization can be partially explained by the existence of an antigenic difference between the predominantly Caucasian donor population and the sickle cell patients of African origin. Genetic and environmental risk factors have also been described. The main risk factors that have been shown in retrospective or cross-sectional studies are some HLA alleles, the age of the patient, the number of leukocyte-depleted erythrocyte concentrates (CED) transfused, the number of transfusion episodes, the age of the CEDs, the existence of an inflammatory event at the time of transfusion and the presence of anti-erythrocyte autoantibodies.There is also evidence of an impaired TH response but the underlying immunological mechanism is not fully understood. The aim of this study is to study the prevalence and the risk factors for anti-erythrocyte alloimmunization and to try to understand the immunological mechanisms.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited disease of the world affecting African and Caribbean populations. SCD is caused by the homozygous inheritance of the gene for sickle hemoglobin (HbS). Most patients with SCD develop abnormal pulmonary function characterized by airway obstruction, restrictive lung disease, abnormal diffusing capacity, hypoxemia and pulmonary hypertension In healthy subjects, lung capillary blood volume (Qc) and membrane diffusing capacity (Dm) can be accurately measured by the nitric oxide-carbon monoxide (NO-CO) method. We propose to study, for the first time, lung capillary blood volume and alveolar membrane diffusing capacity, using the NO-CO method, in children with SCD aged of at least 6 years Early determination of lung function and pulmonary circulation in children with SCD is very important, not only for the understanding of physiopathologic mechanisms of the disease but also for a better therapeutic management of these children.

Iron overload is well study in Thalassemia patients and it's not only related to blood transfusions, since intestinal iron absorption is also increased in those patients. Sickle cell patients didn't develope significant clinical symptoms and signs of iron overload in spite frequent transfusions. The purpouse of this study is to assess the iron overload in Sickle cell anemia and Sickle cell Thalassemia patients using clinical parameters and cardiac T2*MRI in order to determine the cardiac and liver iron.

To reduce episodes of first time stroke by 75 percent in children with sickle cell anemia by the administration of prophylactic transfusion therapy.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects haemoglobin - the molecule in blood cells which carries oxygen. It causes red blood cells to become abnormal crescent (or sickle)- shaped. Sickled red blood cells cannot travel through small blood vessels as easily as normal red blood cells which can lead to blockages. This means that oxygen may be prevented from getting to where it is needed. Individuals with sickle cell disease also suffer form abnormality in the lining of their blood vessels, which contributes to the damage. Damage and blockage can occur in the blood vessels in the brain and means that children with sickle cell disease have a significant risk of suffering from strokes. Research has shown that transcranial Doppler ultrasonography can be used in this setting to identify children at most risk of getting strokes. Ultrasound is therefore used in children with sickle cell disease to measure the blood flow in the vessels in the brain. This research has formed the basis of the National Health Service (NHS) Standard of Care for Sickle Cell Disease in the United Kingdom (UK) which uses transcranial Doppler ultrasonography at once a year to screen children with sickle cell disease aged 2 to 16. Ultrasound is used because it is portable, does not uses ionising radiation such as x-rays, is non-invasive and gives good results. However, the results are dependent on the operator. This means that the screening service is provided by centres of excellence with experienced scanning staff visiting clinics in smaller hospitals with portable machines. There is a lack of research comparing the use of portable machines to laboratory-based machines. This is important because screening can identify children at high risk of stroke and may be used by clinical staff to make a decision about the care of the child.

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a life-threatening, monogenic disorder associated with early death when compared to individuals without SCA. Pulmonary complications, namely acute chest syndrome, obstructive lung disease and pulmonary hypertension, are the most common causes of death in patients with SCA. Recent studies suggest that lung specific inflammation is a hallmark of SCA and underlies pulmonary pathology. To date, no therapy has been shown to improve the pulmonary complications of SCA. Macrolides have pleomorphic effects in the lung with improvement in pulmonary function, symptoms and inflammatory markers demonstrated in several inflammatory pulmonary conditions such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, COPD and post-transplant bronchiolitis obliterans. Investigators hypothesize that low dose macrolide therapy is well tolerated and can improve pulmonary function and symptoms in patients with SCA. The objective of this project is to assess the feasibility of macrolides to attenuate or reverse the decrease in %predicted FEV1 in adults with SCA in a single-site, randomized, placebo-controlled feasibility trial.

To develop and validate a non-invasive, in vivo, phenotyping method for CYP2D6 using the non-injurious neuroselective electrical stimulation technique: pain perception threshold/pain tolerance threshold (PPT/PTT) in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease.

The purpose of this study is to determine the benefits as well as side effects of giving drugs called dipyridamole and magnesium to patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA).

The purpose of this project is to develop novel approaches to promote health and longevity while enhancing quality of life among persons with Sickle cell disease (SCD). Therefore, investigators are aiming to adapt an evidence-based exercise intervention for adults with SCD informed by culturally- relevant and biologic factors.