A 24-Year-Old Woman First Diagnosed as a Sickle Cell Anemia during her Second Pregnancy: A Case Report

Abstract

Introduction: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is generally diagnosed in the early childhood and the disease is usually diagnosed in the first years of life by its clinical manifestations. The crises of this disease worsens during pregnancy. In this report, a 24-year-old pregnant woman with gestational age of 29 weeks and six days, G2P2A0L1, is presented. She complained of severe back and lower extremity pain. Considering the refractory pain, severe anemia, and absence of delivery process signs, further tests detected SCA for her. Preterm termination of pregnancy were performed by cesarean section regarding severe non-controlled pain, severe IUGR (intrauterine growth retardation), severe oligohydramnios, and previous caesarian section. A female baby was born with Apgar score of 8 and a birth weight of 1250 grams. Considering the high probability of vascular occlusion crisis and severe anemia associated with SCA during pregnancy, it is reasonable to seek sickle cells in all the pregnant patients with severe unexplained anemia or pain.

Keywords

• sickle cell anemia
• pregnancy
• pain
• preterm labor
• prenatal care.