The risk of going abroad in sickle cell disease: a study of 148 adults

Going abroad is considered to be a risk for acute complications in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Our objective was to describe the risk in our cohort of adult SCD patients.Complications occurring during a trip were recorded from adults with SCD seen at a routine visit in a referral centre and during hospitalizations for acute complications. One hundred and eight patients participated; mean age = 26.8 (±SD 7.3; range 18–56) years. Eighty-two patients travelled in the previous year, half of them in Africa. Among patients going to endemic areas, 68% of patients received chemoprophylaxis against malaria. Health problems occurred in 53 (65%) travellers: vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) (68%), fever (19%), diarrhoea (19%), broncho-pulmonary symptoms (11%), headaches (8%), vomiting (6%), and cutaneous wound (4%). Sixteen patients required hospitalization; no specific infection was diagnosed. The prevalence of VOC during the trip was higher than the frequency of VOC during the year before. Patients who developed severe complications were not the most symptomatic patients from SCD.Our study showed that going abroad is associated with a large number of acute complications in adults with SCD. Complications were mostly VOC, and severity was unpredictable. Prevention should be improved.