Osteomyelitis in Children with Sickle Cell Disease: A Challenging Diagnosis: Case Report from Cameroon

Abstract

Introduction: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is the most prevalent genetic disease in the world predominantly in the African population with Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCA) being its dominant form. One of the most frequent complications of SCD is osteomyelitis. SCA is due to a point mutation in the beta globin chain of haemoglobin. This is responsible for the sickled shape of RBCs under low oxygen tension conditions leading to obstruction in the microcirculation. This leads to vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) which has a similar clinical presentation to that of osteomyelitis, another complication of SCD. Case Presentation: We present the case of a three-year-old girl with SCA who presented with an inability to bear weight in a febrile context. A diagnosis of VOC was initially made, which was later on changed to both a left chronic tibial and right distal femoral osteomyelitis following a series of biological, and imaging investigations. Surgical debridement and drainage were performed, resulting 9 weeks later in the involution of fever and leg pain. Conclusion: Osteomyelitis when associated with SCD is a dreadful and deathly disease in low income countries as it also presents like VOC therefore higher suspicion index is recommended. It is therefore important to take this into consideration at an early stage in patients with homozygous sickle cell disease so as to rapidly

Analysis of oral radiographic images in patients with osteomyelitis accompanied by systemic sickle cell anemia

“…Infark jaringan, umumnya disebut sebagai vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) yang muncul sebagai nyeri atau pembengkakan. 18,19 Infark dapat memengaruhi beberapa organ pasien termasuk otak, paruparu, tulang dan limpa, dan sebagian besar infark muncul sebagai manifestasi klinis. Infark dan nekrosis tulang kemudian menciptakan kondisi yang tepat untuk pertumbuhan dan penyebaran bakteri.…”