A total of 126 patients were included in the study-65 girls and 61 boys. The mean age of the subjects was 8 ± 4 years (ranging from three to sixteen years). The most represented age group was that from 3-4 years of age. Most of the participants were from the Central Region (46%). All of the subjects were homozygous for hemoglobin SS. Subjects with yearly frequency of three vaso-occlusive crises represented 42.9% of the sample. 57.9% of the patients had been polytransfused within the past 3 years (>2 transfusions). Up to 45.2% of the patients had been hospitalized within the past year.