Prevalence of pulmonary hypertension in sickle cell disease patients in eastern saudi arabia

ABSTRACT

To study the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension associated with the Asian haplotype of sickle cell disease in eastern region of Saudi Arabia. All consecutive adult patients [age = 12 years] presenting with sickle cell disease were recruited from January 2006 to December 2007. All patients were evaluated by the history, laboratory studies and transthoracic echocardiography. For the purpose of analysis we assessed the pulmonary hypertension by measuring right ventricular systolic pressure of at least 30 mm Hg. A total of 42 patients were enrolled in the study. Two of them were excluded, as they didn't complete their echocardiogram. Pulmonary hypertension was detected in 10 [25%] patients. The patients with pulmonary hypertension were of significantly higher age [39.9 +/- 27.5 vs. 25.1 +/- 10.5; p .01] and more commonly found in males [80% vs. 47%; p .06] than did those without pulmonary hypertension. The prevalence of pulmonary hypertension in our patients is higher compared to the previous reports of the benign nature of sickle cell disease in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia