Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis Secondary to Iron Overload in Non-Blood Transfusion Dependent Patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD): Report of Two Cases
Mohammed Al-Dugdugi
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, King Fahd Hospital-Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Erwa Elmakki *
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Saudi Arabia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The prevalence of sickle cell disease (SCD) is high in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia. Liver involvement in patients with SCD represents a challenging medical problem in clinical practice and carrying a high morbidity and mortality rates. We reported two cases of young patients (19 year male and 22 year female), both of them were known to be non-blood transfusion SCD patients. They have had almost the same clinical presentation with advanced decompensated liver cirrhosis and severe progressive jaundice. Early screening of SCD patients for iron overload, beside commencement of iron chelating agents can prevent the long-term sequel of iron overload.
Keywords: Non-blood transfusion dependent SCD, iron overload, liver cirrhosis.