Digital Commons Network^™

Case Series And Review Of Hematological And Non-Hematological Malignancies In Aging Patients With Sickle Cell Disease In The Hydroxyurea Era., Sanaa Rizk, David J. Axelrod, Rasaq Olaosebikan, Samir K. Ballas

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Survival of adult patients with sickle cell disease has increased progressively since the 1970s. Aging patients with sickle cell disease are at risk of developing comorbidities that are not due to sickle cell disease itself, including malignancies. Many studies tried to assess the incidence of malignancy in patients with sickle cell disease. However, no studies have been done to evaluate cancer incidences in aging sickle cell patients, especially in the hydroxyurea (HU) era. In this review, we assessed the prevalence of malignancies in aging patients with sickle cell disease at our institution with or without HU therapy. Retrospective analysis of …

How I Treat Acute And Persistent Sickle Cell Pain., Samir K. Ballas

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Sickle pain is the hallmark of sickle cell disease (SCD). It could be acute, persistent/relapsing, chronic, or neuropathic. Although there is a general consensus that pain is a major manifestation of SCD, there is a controversy as to the types of pain and their interrelationship between acute, chronic, relapsing, persistent, etc. This report first reviews the general approach to the management of acute vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) pain, including education, counseling, pharmacotherapy, non-pharmacotherapy, and fluid therapy. This is followed by the presentation of five patients that represent typical issues that are commonly encountered in the management of patients with SCD. These …

The Vaso-Occlusive Pain Crisis In Sickle Cell Disease: Definition, Pathophysiology, And Management., Deepika S. Darbari, Vivien A. Sheehan, Samir K. Ballas

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of a vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) are critical to the management of patients with sickle cell disease. It is essential to differentiate between VOC-associated pain and chronic pain, hyperalgesia, neuropathy, and neuropathic pain. The pathophysiology of VOCs includes polymerization of abnormal sickle hemoglobin, inflammation, and adhesion. Hydroxyurea, L-glutamine, crizanlizumab, and voxelotor have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for reducing the frequency of VOCs; the European Medicines Agency has approved only hydroxyurea. Other novel treatments are in late-stage clinical development in both the United States and the European Union. The development of agents …

Menopause In Brazilian Women With Sickle Cell Anemia With And Without Hydroxyurea Therapy., Ana Mach Queiroz, Clarisse Lopes De Castro Lobo, Samir K. Ballas

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Women with sickle cell anemia (SCA) require special attention for myriad obstetric and gynecologic issues associated with this complex hematologic disorder. These affect all aspects of female life from menarche through menopause. Information regarding obstetric and gynecologic complications of sickle cell disease (SCD), with a few exceptions, is based primarily on observational, anecdotal, retrospective, or cohort studies that may not reflect current aspects of obstetric care.¹ Similarly, there are no recent reports about menopause (also known as climacteric) in women with SCA. The fact that life expectancy of women with SCA was determined to be 46–48 years² delayed …

Bayesian Modelling Of High-Throughput Sequencing Assays With Malacoda., Andrew R Ghazi, Xianguo Kong, Ed S Chen, Leonard C Edelstein, Chad A Shaw

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

NGS studies have uncovered an ever-growing catalog of human variation while leaving an enormous gap between observed variation and experimental characterization of variant function. High-throughput screens powered by NGS have greatly increased the rate of variant functionalization, but the development of comprehensive statistical methods to analyze screen data has lagged. In the massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA), short barcodes are counted by sequencing DNA libraries transfected into cells and the cell's output RNA in order to simultaneously measure the shifts in transcription induced by thousands of genetic variants. These counts present many statistical challenges, including overdispersion, depth dependence, and uncertain …

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (Tens) For Pain Management In Sickle Cell Disease., Sudipta Pal, Ruchita Dixit, Soe Moe, Myron Anthony Godinho, Adinegara Bl Abas, Samir K. Ballas, Shanker Ram, Uduman Ali M. Yousuf

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease (SCD), one of the most common inherited disorders, is associated with vaso-occlusive pain episodes and haemolysis leading to recurrent morbidity, hospital admissions and work or school absenteeism. The crises are conventionally treated with opioids, non-opioids and other adjuvants with the risk of developing complications, addictions and drug-seeking behaviour. Different non-pharmacological treatments, such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) have been used for managing pain in other painful conditions. Hence, the efficacy of TENS for managing pain in SCD needs to be reviewed.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of TENS for managing pain in people …

Review/Overview Of Pain In Sickle Cell Disease., Samir K. Ballas, Deepika S. Darbari

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a highly complex inherited disorder of hemoglobin structure. Although the molecular lesion is a single-point mutation, the sickle gene is pleiotropic in nature causing multiple phenotypic expressions that constitute the various complications of the disease. Its manifestations could be acute, chronic, nociceptive, neuropathic that could occur singly or in various combinations. Pain continues to be the major factor of SCD phenotypic complications and the most common cause of admissions to the Emergency Department and/or the hospital. Although progress has been made in understanding the pathophysiology of SCD as well as in developing curative therapies such …

Predictors Of Impending Acute Chest Syndrome In Patients With Sickle Cell Anaemia., Salam Alkindi, Ikhlas Al-Busaidi, Bushra Al-Salami, Samir Raniga, Anil Pathare, Samir K. Ballas

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is a major complication of sickle cell anaemia (SCA) and a leading cause for hospital admissions and death. We aimed to study the spectrum of clinical and laboratory features of ACS and to assess the predisposing factors and predictors of severity. A retrospective case-control cohort was studied by retrieving patient information from electronic medical records after ethical approval. One hundred adolescents and adults with SCA and hospital admissions for ACS were identified through the discharge summaries, along with 20 additional patients presenting with VOC, but without ACS (controls). Among the patients with ACS, fever (>38.5 …

Grk6 Regulates The Hemostatic Response To Injury Through Its Rate-Limiting Effects On Gpcr Signaling In Platelets., Xi Chen, Shuchi Gupta, Matthew Cooper, Daniel Dehelian, Xuefei Zhao, Meghna U. Naik, Jeremy G.T. Wurtzel, Timothy J. Stalker, Lawrence E. Goldfinger, Jeffrey Benovic, Lawrence F. Brass, Steven E. Mckenzie, Ulhas P. Naik, Peisong Ma

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate the majority of platelet activation in response to agonists. However, questions remain regarding the mechanisms that provide negative feedback toward activated GPCRs to limit platelet activation and thrombus formation. Here we provide the first evidence that GPCR kinase 6 (GRK6) serves this role in platelets, using GRK6-/- mice generated by CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to examine the consequences of GRK6 knockout on GPCR-dependent signaling. Hemostatic thrombi formed in GRK6-/- mice are larger than in wild-type (WT) controls during the early stages of thrombus formation, with a rapid increase in platelet accumulation at the site of injury. …

The Evolving Pharmacotherapeutic Landscape For The Treatment Of Sickle Cell Disease., Samir K Ballas

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an extremely heterogeneous disease that has been associated with global morbidity and early mortality. More effective and inexpensive therapies are needed. During the last five years, the landscape of the pharmacotherapy of SCD has changed dramatically. Currently, 54 drugs have been used or under consideration to use for the treatment of SCD. These fall into 3 categories: the first category includes the four drugs (Hydroxyurea, L-Glutamine, Crizanlizumab tmca and Voxelotor) that have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) based on successful clinical trials. The second category includes 22 drugs that …