Study of Cerebral Vascular Accidents in Children with Sickle Cell from 6 Months to 15 Years of Age at the Gabriel Toure University Hospital Center

Sickle cell disease is a hereditary disease that remains a public health problem in Mali. Our objective was to study strokes in children with sickle cell disease aged from 6 months to 15 years in the pediatrics department of the Gabriel Toure university hospital center. This was a retrospective descriptive study from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2021 and prospective from April 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022, i.e. 3 years, which took place in the Pediatrics department of the Gabriel Toure university hospital center. During this study, we identified 22 cases of stroke among 714 children with sickle cell disease. The frequency of stroke in this population is 3.08%. The age group from1 to 5 years was the most affected with 40.9%. The average age of the patients was 7 years with extremes ranging from 1 year to 15 years and a median of 5 years. The male gender was predominant with 54.5%, for a sex ratio of 1.2. Headaches were the most common neurological antecedents (63.5%). Half of the patients were diagnosed with sickle cell disease after the onset of the stroke. The installation of the deficit was progressive in 54.5% of cases. Consciousness disorders were the most frequent reason of consultation (27.2%), followed by convulsions (18.1%). The most common neurological signs were impaired consciousness and hemiparesis with 45.5% each. The stroke was ischemic in 100% of cases. There were 95.5% of SS forms and 4.5% of Sβ0thalassemia forms. Our patients had a hemoglobin level less than 7 g/dl in 57.1% of cases and between 7 and 9 g/dl in 42.8% of cases and hyperleukocytosis (leukocytes > 10,000/mm3) in 95.4% of cases. The Sylvian artery was the most affected (45.5%). The fatality rate was 22.7%.