title: Pulmonary Function Tests in Sickle Cell Disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine pulmonary function abnormalities in children with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) from Western India.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross sectional study conducted at Surat, Gujarat, India; equal number of age and gender matched children i.e., 99 in the age group of 6-18 y was recruited in case (children with SCD) and control (non-SCD healthy children) groups respectively. Weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and hemoglobin (Hb) were assessed as baseline characteristics and spirometry was performed to assess the pulmonary function.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two groups of children were comparable in the baseline characteristics such as weight, height and BMI, however mean hemoglobin was significantly low in SCD as compared to healthy controls [9.1 ± 1.52 vs. 11.4 ± 1.04 (p=0.001)]. Mean (% predicted) Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) (86.79 ± 11.6 vs. 94.3 ± 16.1) and FVC (84.4 ± 11.5 vs. 91.75 ± 15.2) values were significantly low (p < 0.001) in cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study revealed that the difference of pulmonary function tests between sickle cell patients and normal age matched controls were statistically significant but this difference was not clinically significant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Civil Hospital, Deesa, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Raviraj
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Purohit
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Govt Medical College, Surat, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Sanjeev S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, 249201, India. jpgoyal@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: Jagdish P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Goyal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Govt Medical College, Surat, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Vijay B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, GMERS Medical College, Patan, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Jaykaran
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Charan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D013147:Spirometry
keywords: Children; India; Pulmonary function tests; Sickle cell disease