Facial swelling and gingival enlargement in a patient with sickle cell disease.
Sickle cell anemia is a frequent hemoglobinopathy in the Caribbean. While vaso-occlusion induced tissue injury in sickle cell anemia is common in various organs, orofacial lesions are rare. A 14-year-old Afro-Trinidadian boy suffering from sickle cell anemia developed an acute facial swelling, mimicking facial cellulitis of dental origin, which was caused by sickle cell-related hemorrhage. He also exhibited gingival enlargement, considered to be an outcome of repeated hemorrhagic episodes and fibrous repair. A new finding is the presence of erythrocyte-filled intraepithelial blood vessels in the gingival epithelium. We hypothesize this phenomena is a tissue response to hypoxia that occurs in sickle cell disease.
School of Dentistry, The University of the West Indies, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Champs Fleurs, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies.
J E
JE
Scipio
H F
HF
Al-Bayaty
P R
PR
Murti
R
R
Matthews
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000098:blood supply; D005145:Face / Q000473:pathology; D005881:Gingiva / Q000098:blood supply; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005886:Gingival Hypertrophy / Q000209:etiology*; D006406:Hematoma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male