Mortality in children, adolescents and adults with sickle cell anemia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract Objective: To determine the mortality rate of children, adolescents and adults with sickle cell anemia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Methods: The number of deaths, the mortality rate and the causes of deaths in patients with sickle cell anemia who were treated and followed up at our institution for 15 years were determined and compared to data available for the Brazilian population. Results: The overall number of deaths was 281 patients with a mortality rate of 16.77%. Survival probability was significantly higher in females. The number of deaths and the mortality rate were age-specific with a significant increase in the 19- to 29-year-old age group. The remaining life expectancy of the patients with sickle cell anemia was less than that of Brazilians at large. The gap between the two was about 20 years for ages between one and five years with this gap decreasing to ten years after the age of 65 years. The most common causes of death were infection, acute chest syndrome, overt stroke, organ damage and sudden death during painful crises. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Brazilian study in a single institution in Rio de Janeiro; the mortality rate was 18.87% among adult patients with sickle cell anemia. The mortality rates in children and adults are higher than those reported in developed countries of the northern hemisphere.

Triagem neonatal para imunodeficiência combinada grave / Newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency

As imunodeficiências primárias (IDP) são uma área recente e aindapouco conhecida da medicina. Pacientes com IDP apresentam, na maior parte dos casos, infecções graves e recorrentes de início precoce, elevada morbidade e mortalidade, resultando frequentemente em sequelas,elevado custo social e sofrimento dos familiares. Embora na Américado Norte e Europa se estime que sua incidência seja semelhante à dafenilcetonúria e do hipotireoidismo congênito (afecções congênitas quecontam com triagem neonatal), ainda faltam dados quanto à sua real incidência na população brasileira.O projeto em desenvolvimento no Instituto de Ciências Biomédicasda USP e Escola Paulista de Medicina da UNIFESP, visa contribuir para o avanço na implementação de testes de triagem neonatal para asimunodeficiências primárias, mais especificamente, ImunodeficiênciasCombinadas Graves, que constituem um grupo de doenças com diferentesdefeitos genéticos, que evoluem para o óbito precoce se não foremdiagnosticadas e tratadas a tempo e a Síndrome de DiGeorge, que seestima ser a síndrome genética de deleção mais prevalente (1:3.000nascidos vivos).Seguindo esta linha de pensamento, nossa hipótese é que no Brasilexiste um número desconhecido de pacientes com IDP não diagnosticadosou subdiagnosticados que após a implementação de técnicas de detecção molecular por triagem neonatal para a SCID e síndrome de DiGeorge, passarão a ser contabilizados e tratados corretamente, diminuindo portanto,a morbidade e mortalidade.

Primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDD) are a recently-recognizedand relatively unstudied area of medicine. Patients with PIDD frequentlypresent with the early onset of severe recurrent infections, high morbidityand mortality, frequently resulting in sequelae, high social cost, andfamily burden. While in North America and Europe it is estimated thatits incidence is similar to phenylketonuria and congenital hypothyroidism(congenital disorders that rely on neonatal screening), there is a lack ofdata on its actual incidence in Brazil.The project being developed at Institute of Biomedical Sciences,University of São Paulo and Federal University of São Paulo MedicalSchool, aims to contribute to the implementation of neonatal screeningtests for primary immunodeficiencies. More specifically, severe combinedimmunodeficiencies, a group of diseases with several genetic defects,may progress to early death if not diagnosed and treated early in life;and DiGeorge Syndrome, which is estimated to be the most prevalentgenetic deletion syndrome (1:3,000).Our hypothesis is that, in Brazil there is an unknown number ofpatients with undiagnosed or underdiagnosed disease, which, after theimplementation of detection techniques through newborn screening forSCID and DiGeorge Syndrome, will be accounted for and treated properly,reducing therefore, the morbidity and mortality.