Lung function, haemoglobin and irreversibly sickled cells in sickle cell patients.

This study seeks to show whether there is a positive relationship between HbF, irreversibly sickled cells and several lung function parameters. Percentage haemoglobin F (%HbF), percent irreversibly sickled cells (%ISC), blood pressure (BP, mm Hg), heart rate (HR, b/min), forced vital capacity (FVC,I), timed vital capacity (FEV1, I) FEV1% and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR, I/min) were measured in 10 sickle cell (in the steady state) and 15 non-sickle cell subjects matched by age and sex. Results showed that although the ages in both groups of subjects were similar, sickle cell anaemia (SCA) subjects had smaller stature.