This site offers a comprehensive listing of online educational material for students, interns, residents and fellows studying and managing patients suffering from a sickle cell disorder.
The diagnosis, management and the care of patients suffering from the inherited disorders that cause the sickling of erythrocyte will be reviewed.
There is a remarkable growth in knowledge regarding several major questions that impact the diagnosis and treatment of sickle cell disease. To aide your review of this topic here are some questions that you should be able to answer after studying the material in this site:
Why and how do sickle erythrocytes obstruct blood vessels ? What factors determine whether sickle hemoglobin becomes insoluble ? What is the relationship between genotype and phenotype in sickle cell syndromes? What mediates the severe pain of sickle cell disease ? Why are patients at risk for infection ? What types of infections ? What are the CNS manifestations of sickle cell disease ? Is there a plasma marker that can be used to predict survival in this disease ? How does pulmonary hypertension affect survival ? What does Hydroxyurea do to pain crisis, morbiditiy and mortality ? Who should get Hydrea, what dose and how should therapy be monitored ? What causes leg ulcers ? Can Hydrea help or hurt the process ? Priapism is treated by what therapy ? What is exchange transfusion and why is it used ? What is the acute chest syndrome? What are some of the causes ? How should it be treated ? What genetic risk factors alter disease manifestation in sickle cell disease ? How and why does D-dimer change during pain crisus in sickle cell disease ? Do platelets contribute to sickle cell disease pathobiology? What factors make sickle cell disease a hypercoaguable state ?
