Pneumonia as a Sign of Sickle Cell Disease: About a Case with Review of the Literature

Background: Pulmonary infections including pneumonia during sickle cell disease are common and fall within the definition of acute chest syndrome. This clinical syndrome is defined by the association of a recent thoracic radiological abnormality with a clinical manifestation: chest pain, fever, or dyspnea. Methods: This is an observational, descriptive study of a special case discovered during a pediatric consultation at the university clinics of Kinshasa. Its presentation being a case not yet found at the university clinics makes its publication valuable. Result: We report the observation of an 8-year-old patient with hand-foot-mouth syndrome and 2 previous pneumonias, without any notion of parental consanguinity. On his physical examination, he presented crackling rales at the base of the right lung, O2 desaturation at 88% in open air. The emergency assessment revealed a hemoglobin level of 8 g/dl, a leukocytosis of 18,000/mm3, a leukocyte formula: N83%L12% M5%E0%B0%; C Reactive Protein at 48 mg/l. The thick film was negative. The chest X-ray (Front) revealed right basal lung disease of presumably infectious origin. Conclusion: This work emphasizes the frequency of the occurrence of pneumonia and its potential seriousness in a little-known sickle cell patient.