Neurological complications of hemoglobin SC disease
R. H. Fabian and B. H. Peters
The records of 68 patients with hemoglobin SC disease and 68 age- and
sex-matched control patients were reviewed for neurological problems. A
significant increase in retinopathy, stupor/coma, and seizures was noted in
the hemoglobin SC group. Hemiplegia, noted in two young patients, was
probably also secondary to hemoglobin SC disease. Hemoglobin SC disease may
often go unrecognized as a cause of stupor and coma in older patients
without other obvious manifestations of a sickling hemoglobinopathy.
Factors known to precipitate sickling crisis and the associated
neurological complications should be avoided, especially in patients
undergoing surgery or parturition.
