title: Abdominal ultrasonographic findings in patients with sickle-cell anaemia and thalassaemia intermedia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The high prevalence and heterogeneity of clinical and haematological phenotypes of sickle-cell anaemia and thalassaemia intermedia (TI) syndromes in the Greek population constitute a major challenge in routine medical practice.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the spectrum and prevalence of abdominal US findings in these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 105 patients, 13 homozygous for sickle-cell anaemia (S/S) and 92 with TI syndromes (Th/S, beta(thal)/beta(thal )or beta(thal)/deltabeta(thal)). The patients' ages ranged from 1 to 54 years, with 49 males and 56 females.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the time of the examination, 41% of the patients had undergone splenectomy and 23.8% had undergone cholecystectomy. The most frequent US findings (percentages refer to all patients) were: hepatomegaly (70.5%), splenomegaly (48.6%) and cholelithiasis (20%). A bright liver was identified in 3.8% and focal hepatic lesions were present in two patients of the TI group. Functional disorders of the gallbladder concerned mainly patients with sickle-cell syndromes. Of those with S/S, 30.8% had a shrunken spleen. An echogenic pancreas was identified in one patient in each group. Increased renal echogenicity was observed in 17.6% of patients with sickle-cell syndromes. One case of polycystic kidney disease was diagnosed and coexisted with S/S.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The value of US imaging in detecting complications of sickle-cell and TI syndromes is still debated. To our knowledge, there are no previous reports concerning the frequency and spectrum of abdominal US findings in patients with these syndromes.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Paediatrics, University of Athens, Agia Sofia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece. papadaki1@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Marina G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Papadaki
authors.forename: Antonios C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Kattamis
authors.forename: Irene G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Papadaki
authors.forename: Damianos G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Menegas
authors.forename: Theano P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Georgakopoulou
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mavrommati-Metaxotou
authors.forename: Christos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kattamis
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006529:Hepatomegaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography