Abstract:
Fetal hemoglobin (HbF) is the main hemoglobin throughout the fetal life and at birth, accounting for approximately 80% of total hemoglobin in newborn. HbF, when elevated during sickle cell disease (SCD), cause reduction of different crises associated with SCD. Elevation of HbF is achieved by hydroxyurea (HU) therapy as a tool to control SCD. This study was conducted in the period between May 2009 to December 2009 to determine the levels of HbF in SCD pediatric patients treated with hydroxyurea (HU) therapy and evaluate its effects on elevation of HbF which lead to the reduction of SCD crises. Ninety one Sudanese SCD pediatric patients with mean age of (6.0 years � 2.9), who were referred to Jafaar Ibnouf hospital in Khartoum city, were included in this study. Sixty one of the patients, designated group T, had been treated with 22 mg /Kg/ day of HU for seven months; and thirty patients had been treated with conventional treatment were used as control designated group C. Two and half ml blood sample was collected from each participant in Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid (EDTA) container. HbF level was determined by using the denaturation method. The results showed that the mean of HbF levels in group T was 8.00 � 02.59 while the mean of HbF level in the control group (C) which was 0.8 � 0.2.
