New testing urged for sickle-cell patients

Researchers say sickle-cell patients should be tested for high blood pressure in the lungs, described as a major risk factor for adults with the disease.

Researchers say sickle-cell patients should be tested for high blood pressure in the lungs, described as a major risk factor for adults with the disease. A study published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine says nearly a third of adult sickle-cell patients who were screened with a noninvasive ultrasound method were found to have previously undetected moderate to severe pulmonary hypertension. The results from the tests confirm earlier suggestions from studies of patient records that pulmonary hypertension is present in 20 percent to 40 percent of sickle-cell patients and poses a major threat of death, the study said. The researchers, from the National Institutes of Health and the Howard University Center for Sickle Cell Disease, said the findings were so striking, all patients with sickle cell should be regularly screened, the New York Times reported. In addition, they said, patients with even mild to moderate pulmonary hypertension should have the condition treated. (Source: Medline Plus, United Press International, Feb 2004)