Prevalence of stroke in children admitted with sickle cell anaemia to Mulago Hospital

BACKGROUND Stroke is a major complication of sickle cell anaemia (SCA). It occurs commonly in childhood with about 10 % of children with sickle cell anaemia getting affected by this complication. In Uganda, there is paucity of data on the prevalence of stroke in children admitted in a tertiary institution. We determined the prevalence of stroke amongst children with SCA admitted to Mulago National Referral Hospital in Uganda and described the ir co-morbidities. METHODS We conducted a retrospective record review of children with SCA admitted from August 2012 to August 2014 to the Paediatric Haematology Ward of Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. The target population was SCA children age 6 months-17 years of age. A descriptive analysis was used to summarize the demographic characteristics and clinical diagnosis. RESULTS There were 2,176 children with SCA admitted who were included in this study. There were 147 children with stroke. Their mean age 6.1, (SD 3), with a male to female ratio was 1:1 (71 males and 76 females). The M: F ratio of non-stroke children was 1.1:1 (1084 males and 945 females) with a mean age of 5.2, (SD 3). The prevalence of stroke was 6.8 % (147 of 2176). Amongst the children with stroke, 72.1 % (106 of 147) had co-morbidities which included severe anaemia 21.7 % (23 of 106), bacteraemia and vaso-occlusive crisis 17 % (18 of 106), pneumonia 8.4 % (9 of 106) and malaria 6.6 % (7 of 106). CONCLUSION The prevalence of stroke in hospitalized Ugandan children with SCA was 6.8 %. Children with stroke were often admitted with other medical conditions such as severe anaemia, bacteraemia and vaso-occlusion.