Primary stroke in a woman with sickle cell anemia responsive to hydroxyurea therapy.

Authors

Samir K. Ballas, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Ubaldo E. Martinez-Outshoorn, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Michael P. Savage, Jefferson Medical CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2014

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It is the authors' final version prior to publication in Hemoglobin, Volume 38, Issue 5, October 2014, Pages 373-375.

The published version is available at DOI: 10.3109/03630269.2014.960928. Copyright © Informa Healthcare

Abstract

The most common cause of stroke in children with sickle cell anemia is infarction due to ischemia. In adults, however, stroke is most commonly hemorrhagic in nature. Other causes of stroke in patients with sickle cell disease are very rare. In this short communication, we describe a woman with sickle cell anemia responsive to hydroxyurea (HU) therapy who had primary stroke due to paradoxical embolization caused by a large atrial septal defect. Successful management of the stroke included surgical closure of the defect with trans-esophageal echocardiographic guidance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first patient with sickle cell anemia and stroke due to congenital heart disease who did not require open heart surgery for successful management.

Recommended Citation

Ballas, Samir K.; Martinez-Outshoorn, Ubaldo E.; and Savage, Michael P., "Primary stroke in a woman with sickle cell anemia responsive to hydroxyurea therapy." (2014). Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research. Paper 28.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/cardeza_foundation/28