Newborn Screening and Clinical Profile of Children With Sickle Cell Disease in a Tribal Area of Gujarat

Objectives: To present the result of newborn sickle cell disease (SCD) screening and clinical profile of SCD newborns in a tribal area of Gujarat. Methods: We screened all newborns of sickle cell trait (SCT) and SCD mothers for SCD using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) within two days of birth at a secondary care hospital in a tribal area in Gujarat from 2014 to 2019. Newborns with SCD were registered under an information technology based platform for hospital-based comprehensive care. Neonates were followed prospectively every 3 months. If they missed the clinic visit, a medical counsellor visited them at home to collect the required information. Results: Out of 2492 newborns screened, 87 (3.5%) were diagnosed with SCD. Among the 67 newborns screened for alpha-thalassemia deletion, 64 (95.4%) of babies had alpha-thalassemia deletion. We recorded total 554 clinic visits over the period of 221.5 person-years. The rates of acute febrile illness, painful crisis, hospitalization and severe anemia were 42.9, 14.9, 14.9 and 4.5 per 100 person-year, respectively. Two deaths were recorded, and 5 babies (5.7%) had severe SCD. Conclusion: We found a high prevalence of alpha thalassemia deletion among newborn SCD cohort in tribal area of Gujarat, and 70% babies had atleast one clinical complication on follow-up.

Popliteal pterygium syndrome: case report from rural India

The popliteal pterygium syndrome is a congenital malformation that includes orofacial, musculoskeletal and genitourinary anomalies. It is also known as faciogenitopopliteal syndrome. It is autosomal dominant disorder. It has highly variable expressivity and incomplete penetrance. The incidence of the popliteal pterygium syndrome is 1/300000, which makes it an extremely rare condition. The most striking characteristic of this syndrome is popliteal pterygium, which consists of a net of connective tissue spreading from the ischial tuberosity to the calcaneus.In this study, authors present the case of a 1 day old male patient with cleft upper lip, cleft palate, bifid scrotum, popliteal pterygium and congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV).