Ocular manifestations of sickle cell disease in heterozygous subjects: Senegalese experience

Introduction: Sickle cell disease is the most widespread hemoglobinopathy in the world and affects nearly 10% of the population in sub- Saharan Africa. It is responsible for ophthalmological manifestations very little described by the literature in our country. We report our experience of ocular lesions encountered in heterozygous sickle cell subjects monitored in our department. Material and methods: From June 2004 to July 2011, we initiated a retrospective study which allowed us to recruit sickle cell patients for a research on ocular involvement. Each patient had complete ophthalmologic examination and fluorescein angiography. The descriptive analysis was carried out using the EPI-INFO software version 6.04. Results: Out of 80 patients received, eight were retained with a sex ratio of 0.6%. The mean age was 34 years for extremes of 22 and 49 years. It was 50% AS sickle-cell anemia and 50% SC. On examination, the visual acuity (VA) varied from the absence of luminous perception to 10/10. The lesions found were bilateral in 7 cases and unilateral for 1 case. Comments: Sickle cell disease is a hemoglobinopathy which predominates in the black subject and the male gender is the most affected. The SC genotypic form is the main provider of sickle cell retinopathy. Moreover, the signs are more marked as the subject is older, whereas this intensity varies inversely according to the genotype; it is more important in the SC form then in AS and finally SS form. Conclusion: The ocular lesions related to sickle cell disease are serious and involve the functional prognosis of the eye especially of young and black subjects. Keywords: Sickle Cell Disease; Eye; Black Rac