PATTERNS OF ERYTHROCYTE MORPHOLOGICAL INDICES AMONG PATIENTS WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ANAEMIA SEVERITY AND CLINICAL MANAGEMENT

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with chronic haemolysis, anaemia, and progressive alterations in erythrocyte morphology. This study assessed the patterns of erythrocyte morphological indices among patients with SCD in steady state and vaso-occlusive crisis and compared them with healthy controls.
Materials and Methods: This comparative study involved 180 participants aged 5–40 years in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, comprising 67 patients with SCD in vaso-occlusive crisis, 53 patients in steady state, and 60 healthy controls. Three millilitres of venous blood were collected into EDTA containers and analysed for packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC). Data were analysed using SPSS version 27.0. One-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post-hoc test was used to compare groups, with statistical significance set at p<0.05.
Results: Significant differences were observed in PCV, MCV, MCH, and MCHC among the three groups (p<0.001). PCV was significantly higher in controls (41.47±3.64%) than in steady-state (24.96±2.85%) and crisis (22.94±2.93%) SCD patients. MCV, MCH, and MCHC were also significantly reduced in both SCD groups compared with controls. The lowest PCV observed during crisis indicated greater anaemia severity associated with acute disease exacerbation.
Conclusions: SCD is associated with significant alterations in erythrocyte morphological indices, with greater abnormalities during vaso-occlusive crisis. Routine assessment of PCV, MCV, MCH, and MCHC may provide simple, affordable biomarkers for assessing anaemia severity and monitoring disease activity, particularly in resource-limited settings.