Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Sickle cell disease SCD refers to a group of inherited hemoglobin disorders in which sickle red blood cells display altered deformability, leading to a significant burden of acute and chronic complications, such as vaso-occlusive pain crises VOCs. Hydroxyurea is a major therapeutic agent in adult and pediatric sickle cell patients.
This treatment is an alternative to transfusion in some complications. Indeed, it increases hemoglobin F and has an action on the endothelial adhesion of red blood cells, leukocytes, and platelets. Although the safety profile of hydroxyurea HU in patients with sickle cell disease has been well established, the existing literature on HU exposure during pregnancy is limited and incomplete.
Pregnancy in women with SCD has been identified as a high risk for the mother and fetus due to the increased incidence of maternal and non-fetal complications in various studies and reports. For women on hydroxyurea at the time of pregnancy, transfusion therapy should probably be initiated after pregnancy. In addition, there is still a significant lack of knowledge about the incidence of pregnancy, fetal and maternal outcomes, and management of pregnant women with SCD, making it difficult to advise women or clinicians on outcomes and best practices.
We believe that our results are important and relevant enough to be shared with the scientific community. Sickle cell disease SCD is a recessive genetic disease related to the production of abnormal hemoglobin HbS [ 1 , 2 ]. Sickle red blood cells present altered deformability, become fragile, and are thus more prone to lysis, thereby resulting in chronic hemolytic anemia [ 1 , 2 ]. This may lead to vaso-occlusive pain crises VOCs , ischemia, and inflammation with acute and chronic lesions.
SCD represents the most common monogenic disorder in the world and it affects millions of patients living in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian sub-continent [ 3 ].
