title: Low dose hydroxyurea is effective in reducing the incidence of painful crisis and frequency of blood transfusion in sickle cell anemia patients from eastern India.
abstract: There are several questions pertaining to dosage, duration and potential long-term toxicity of hydroxyurea (HU) therapy. Use of HU is extremely limited in eastern India because of its high cost and apprehension of its toxicities. We undertook this study to assess the clinical, biochemical and hematological efficacy of minimal dose HU (10 mg/kg/day) in 118 sickle cell anemia patients (27 pediatric and 91 adults). The frequency of painful crises reduced significantly in 71.5 and 92.2% in pediatric and adult cases, respectively. Ninety-five percent of the patients became transfusion independent. The baseline Hb F, total hemoglobin (Hb), MCV, MCH and MCHC levels increased significantly, whereas the WBC, platelet count and total serum bilirubin values decreased significantly. This is the first study of minimal dose HU therapy in eastern India that showed impressive improvement in clinical and hematological parameters with minimal toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Veer Surendra Sai Medical College, Burla, Orissa, India. drdilippatel25@gmail.com
authors.forename: Dilip K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Ranjeet S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Mashon
authors.forename: Siris
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Bhabani S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Prasanta
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Purohit
authors.forename: Subasa C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bishwal
mesh_terms: D059787:Acute Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D000986:Antisickling Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005319:Fetal Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006918:Hydroxyurea / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000986:Antisickling Agents; D005319:Fetal Hemoglobin; D006918:Hydroxyurea