The US3 study: a first step towards large scale epidemiology for sickle cell disease in Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 44-44
Author(s):  
Brigitte Ranque
10.2196/16319 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e16319
Author(s):  
Jane S Hankins ◽  
Nirmish Shah ◽  
Lisa DiMartino ◽  
Donald Brambilla ◽  
Maria E Fernandez ◽  
...  

Background Hydroxyurea prevents disease complications among patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Although its efficacy has been endorsed by the National Health Lung and Blood Institute evidence-based guidelines, its adoption is low, both by patients with SCD and providers. Mobile health (mHealth) apps provide benefits in improving medication adherence and self-efficacy among patients with chronic diseases and have facilitated prescription among medical providers. However, mHealth has not been systematically tested as a tool to increase hydroxyurea adherence nor has the combination of mHealth been assessed at both patient and provider levels to increase hydroxyurea utilization. Objective This study aims to increase hydroxyurea utilization through a combined two-level mHealth intervention for both patients with SCD and their providers with the goals of increasing adherence to hydroxyurea among patients and improve hydroxyurea prescribing behavior among providers. Methods We will test the efficacy of 2 mHealth interventions to increase both patient and provider utilization and knowledge of hydroxyurea in 8 clinical sites of the NHLBI-funded Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium (SCDIC). The patient mHealth intervention, InCharge Health, includes multiple components that address memory, motivation, and knowledge barriers to hydroxyurea use. The provider mHealth intervention, Hydroxyurea Toolbox (HU Toolbox), addresses the clinical knowledge barriers in prescribing and monitoring hydroxyurea. The primary hypothesis is that among adolescents and adults with SCD, adherence to hydroxyurea, as measured by the proportion of days covered (the ratio of the number of days the patient is covered by the medication to the number of days in the treatment period), will increase by at least 20% after 24 weeks of receiving the InCharge Health app, compared with their adherence at baseline. As secondary objectives, we will (1) examine the change in health-related quality of life, acute disease complications, perceived health literacy, and perceived self-efficacy in taking hydroxyurea among patients who use InCharge Health and (2) examine potential increases in the awareness of hydroxyurea benefits and risks, appropriate prescribing, and perceived self-efficacy to correctly administer hydroxyurea therapy among SCD providers between baseline and 9 months of using the HU Toolbox app. We will measure the reach, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of both the InCharge Health and the HU Toolbox apps using the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance framework and qualitatively evaluate the implementation of both mHealth interventions. Results The study is currently enrolling study participants. Recruitment is anticipated to be completed by mid-2021. Conclusions If this two-level intervention, that is, the combined use of InCharge Health and HU Toolbox apps, demonstrates efficacy in increasing adherence to hydroxyurea and prescribing behavior in patients with SCD and their providers, respectively, both apps will be offered to other institutions outside the SCDIC through a future large-scale implementation-effectiveness study. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04080167; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04080167 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/16319


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivani Sivasankar ◽  
An-Lin Cheng ◽  
Ira M. Lubin ◽  
Kamani Lankachandra ◽  
Mark A. Hoffman

Abstract Background The glycated hemoglobin (A1c) test is not recommended for sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. We examine ordering patterns of diabetes-related tests for SCD patients to explore misutilization of tests among this underserved population. Methods We used de-identified electronic health record (EHR) data in the Cerner Health Facts™ (HF) data warehouse to evaluate the frequency of A1c and fructosamine tests during 2010 to 2016, for 37,151 SCD patients from 393 healthcare facilities across the United States. After excluding facilities with no A1c data, we defined three groups of facilities based on the prevalence of SCD patients with A1c test(s): adherent facilities (no SCD patients with A1c test(s)), minor non-adherent facilities, major non-adherent facilities. Results We determined that 11% of SCD patients (3927 patients) treated at 393 facilities in the US received orders for at least one A1c test. Of the 3927 SCD patients with an A1c test, only 89 patients (2.3%) received an order for a fructosamine test. At the minor non-adherent facilities, 5% of the SCD patients received an A1c test while 58% of the SCD patients at the least adherent facilities had at least one A1c test. Overall, the percent of A1c tests ordered for SCD patients between 2010 and 2016 remained similar. Conclusions Inappropriate A1c test orders among a sickle cell population is a significant quality gap. Interventions to advance adoption of professional recommendations that advocate for alternate tests, such as fructosamine, can guide clinicians in test selection to reduce this quality gap are discussed. The informatics strategy used in this work can inform other largescale analyses of lab test utilization using de-identified EHR data.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
CC Martino ◽  
CS Alencar ◽  
P Loureiro ◽  
AB Carneiro-Proietti ◽  
CA Máximo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe diagnosis of sickle cell disease (SCD) is made by hemoglobin assays such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), isoelectric focusing and cellulose acetate or citrate agar electrophoresis. These assays are easy to perform and used in large-scale newborn screening in many countries. These tests however may not easily differentiate Sβ0 thalassemia from SS or identify other hemoglobin variants, and in this case, hemoglobin (HBB) gene sequencing may be necessary.ObjectivesTo develop a high throughput DNA based confirmatory assay for SCD and to detect mutations in the HBB gene.MethodsWe developed an automated pyrosequencing technique (PyS) based on QIAGEN technology (Hilden, Germany) to detect homozygous or heterozygous hemoglobin S mutations as well as hemoglobin C mutations. The technique was tested on 2,748 samples from patients enrolled in a multi-center SCD cohort in Brazil. Patients were previously tested using HPLC to diagnose SCD as part of routine clinical care. Any subjects with discrepant results between HPLC and PyS or with heterozygous hemoglobin S detected had Sanger sequencing of the HBB gene.ResultsWe identified 168 samples with discrepant results between HPLC and PyS and 100 with concordant HPLC and PyS= heterozygous S, which would suggest Sβ-thalassemia or other hemoglobin S variants. The PyS assay correctly identified 1906 (98.7%) of the 1930 HbSS and 628 (98.7%) of the 636 HbSC samples. Of the 179 remaining samples, PyS correctly indicated S heterozygosis in 165 (92.2%). Of the 165 heterozygous S samples confirmed by Sanger as consistent with Sβ thalassemia genotype, 84 samples were classified as Sβ0 thalassemia and 81 as Sβ+ thalassemia. The most frequent beta thalassemia mutations of Sβ0 and Sβ+ were HBB: c.118C>T (Gln40Stop) and HBB c.92 + 6T> C, respectively.DiscussionThe PyS proved to be satisfactory for large-scale confirmatory testing of hemoglobin mutation. Moreover, with this study we were able to describe the most common β+ and β0 mutations in SCD patients with Sβ-thalassemia in a large multi-institutional SCD cohort in Brazil.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 429-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Kutlar ◽  
Donald Brambilla ◽  
Betsy Clair ◽  
Anne Haghighat ◽  
Sule Bakanay ◽  
...  

Abstract Ischemic stroke occurs in 11% of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) by age 20. The STOP and STOP-II trials showed that the risk of ischemic stroke increases with Transcranial Doppler (TCD) velocities in major intracranial arteries in children with SCD 2–16 years of age, and that the risk in children with abnormal velocities (>200 cm/sec) can be significantly reduced by prophylactic transfusions. Risk factors for development of high TCD phenotype are not clearly established. In an ancillary study to STOP/STOP-II, we analyzed 28 polymorphisms in 20 candidate genes for association with elevated TCD velocity. DNA was extracted from 130 patients randomized in the STOP trial, all of whom had abnormal TCD velocities, and from 355 patients who were screened for STOP II at 8 participating centers. None of the subjects from either trial had histories of overt stroke when they were screened. Samples from STOP subjects were anonymized according to an IRB-approved plan; informed consent/assent was obtained from subjects screened for the STOP-II trial. Hb phenotype was ascertained by HPLC. High throughput genotyping was performed using the MassARRAY™ System (Sequenom Inc., San Diego, CA) at Mass U. TCD status was classified as normal (<170 cm/sec) or not normal (>170 cm/sec) using the average of all TCDs on each patient, excluding any TCDs obtained after starting transfusion (median: 2 TCD exams, range 1–16). Genotyping results for each SNP were also reduced to a binary classification (mutation present or absent) by combining heterozygous subjects with those homozygous for the mutation. Conditional logistic regression was employed to model the probability of having at least 1copy of the mutant allele as a function of TCD status stratified on age class. Under this approach, the odds ratio (OR) relating TCD status to genotype is assumed to be the same at all ages but the prevalence of abnormal or conditional TCD is allowed to vary with age. Seven SNPs were excluded from analyses: all subjects studied (479) were homozygous for the common allele for 5 SNPs, and only 2 subjects were heterozygous for the minor allele for 2 SNPs. The prevalence of abnormal TCD varied with age; the highest prevalence was found in 8–9 year old subjects. Only one SNP, VCAM G1238C, had a significant OR of 0.6 (p=0.03) suggesting this SNP is protective from high TCD. The same polymorphism was found to be protective from stroke with an OR of 0.3 in a different cohort of patients by Taylor et al (Blood, 100:4303–9, 2002). Several published studies have reported on association of stroke with candidate gene polymorphisms with differing results. This is the first large scale study of the association of abnormal TCD (stroke risk) with genetic polymorphisms. To our knowledge, it is also the first confirmatory genetic association study in SCD and cerebrovascular disease in a different population of subjects. Functional analyses of this polymorphism and association of stroke and candidate gene polymorphisms in this cohort are planned.


Author(s):  
Jane S Hankins ◽  
Nirmish Shah ◽  
Lisa DiMartino ◽  
Donald Brambilla ◽  
Maria E Fernandez ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Hydroxyurea prevents disease complications among patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Although its efficacy has been endorsed by the National Health Lung and Blood Institute evidence-based guidelines, its adoption is low, both by patients with SCD and providers. Mobile health (mHealth) apps provide benefits in improving medication adherence and self-efficacy among patients with chronic diseases and have facilitated prescription among medical providers. However, mHealth has not been systematically tested as a tool to increase hydroxyurea adherence nor has the combination of mHealth been assessed at both patient and provider levels to increase hydroxyurea utilization. OBJECTIVE This study aims to increase hydroxyurea utilization through a combined two-level mHealth intervention for both patients with SCD and their providers with the goals of increasing adherence to hydroxyurea among patients and improve hydroxyurea prescribing behavior among providers. METHODS We will test the efficacy of 2 mHealth interventions to increase both patient and provider utilization and knowledge of hydroxyurea in 8 clinical sites of the NHLBI-funded Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium (SCDIC). The patient mHealth intervention, <i>InCharge Health,</i> includes multiple components that address memory, motivation, and knowledge barriers to hydroxyurea use. The provider mHealth intervention, <i>Hydroxyurea Toolbox</i> (<i>HU Toolbox</i>), addresses the clinical knowledge barriers in prescribing and monitoring hydroxyurea. The primary hypothesis is that among adolescents and adults with SCD, adherence to hydroxyurea, as measured by the proportion of days covered (the ratio of the number of days the patient is covered by the medication to the number of days in the treatment period), will increase by at least 20% after 24 weeks of receiving the <i>InCharge Health</i> app, compared with their adherence at baseline. As secondary objectives, we will (1) examine the change in health-related quality of life, acute disease complications, perceived health literacy, and perceived self-efficacy in taking hydroxyurea among patients who use <i>InCharge Health</i> and (2) examine potential increases in the awareness of hydroxyurea benefits and risks, appropriate prescribing, and perceived self-efficacy to correctly administer hydroxyurea therapy among SCD providers between baseline and 9 months of using the <i>HU Toolbox</i> app. We will measure the reach, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of both the <i>InCharge Health</i> and the <i>HU Toolbox</i> apps using the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance framework and qualitatively evaluate the implementation of both mHealth interventions. RESULTS The study is currently enrolling study participants. Recruitment is anticipated to be completed by mid-2021. CONCLUSIONS If this two-level intervention, that is, the combined use of InCharge Health and HU Toolbox apps, demonstrates efficacy in increasing adherence to hydroxyurea and prescribing behavior in patients with SCD and their providers, respectively, both apps will be offered to other institutions outside the SCDIC through a future large-scale implementation-effectiveness study. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04080167; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04080167 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT DERR1-10.2196/16319


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 2276
Author(s):  
Matthew Cannon ◽  
Hannah Phillips ◽  
Sidney Smith ◽  
Katie Williams ◽  
Lindsey Brinton ◽  
...  

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is a debilitating hematological disorder with very few approved treatment options. Therapeutic reactivation of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) is one of the most pursued methods for ameliorating the systemic manifestations of SCD. Despite this, very few pharmacological agents have advanced to clinical trials or marketing for use. In this study, we report the development of an HbF in situ intracellular immunoblot assay coupled to a high-throughput drug screen to identify Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs that can be repurposed clinically for treatment of SCD. Using this assay we evaluated the National Institute of Health (NIH) Clinical Collection (NCC), a publicly available library of 725 small molecules, and found nine candidates that can significantly re-express HbF in erythroid cell lines as well as primary erythroblasts derived from SCD patients. Furthermore, we show the strong effects on HbF expression of these candidates to occur with minimal cytotoxicity in 7 of the 9 drugs. Given these data and their proven history of use for other indications, we hypothesize that several of these candidate drugs warrant further investigation for use in SCD.


2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (7) ◽  
pp. e26550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim B. Kunz ◽  
Holger Cario ◽  
Regine Grosse ◽  
Andrea Jarisch ◽  
Stephan Lobitz ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosseini SA ◽  
◽  
Isola S ◽  
Bhatia M ◽  
Thara S ◽  
...  

Background: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a chronic and debilitating disease that can affect almost any organ system in the body; hence, it is associated with a broad range of complications and comorbidities that may have a profound impact on a patients’ quality of life through medical and mental health consequences. Psychosocial and affective comorbidities are prevalent in SCD and could considerably influence disease outcomes; however, treatment options for SCD psychosocial sequelae are suboptimal, and evidence on their effectiveness is limited. Case Report: We report a 21-year-old African American female with a history of SCD and recurrent hospital admissions due to acute SCD complications, who was referred to the consultation-liaison psychiatry service for evaluation of psychiatric comorbidities and management recommendations. Conclusion: This case demonstrates the complexity of the relationship between somatic complications and neuropsychiatric disorders in SCD and highlights the importance of early identification and management of mental health conditions in this patient population. We emphasize treatment challenges and the need for large scale research on pharmacotherapies and nonpharmacological interventions in treating psychosocial comorbidities associated with SCD.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 2287-2287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connie M Westhoff ◽  
Marek Simm ◽  
Carl Myers ◽  
Stella T Chou ◽  
Adonis Stassinopoulos ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 2287 High throughput genomic testing for blood groups allows large scale antigen typing and assessment of donor pool compatibility with chronic transfusion dependent populations, particularly thalassemia or sickle cell disease (SCD) patients, in order to decrease RBC alloimmunization. Thus, it is crucial to determine if the quantity and antigen diversity of the donor pool meets the demands to sustain these patients on phenotype/genotype extended matched chronic transfusion protocols. We calculated the most common extended RBC predicted phenotypes for the 12 major clinically significant blood group antigens, D, CcEe, K, Jka/b, Fya/b, and Ss, in patients undergoing chronic transfusion for sickle cell disease (n=203) or thalassemia (n=98). The most common phenotypes in each diagnostic group were used to determine the prevalence of these phenotypes in a single day donor inventory (n=5,000) and stratified by ethnic group (70% Caucasian, 10% African-American, 13% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 2% Other). All patient samples were tested for the presence of the GATA mutation which disrupts erythroid expression of Fy(b), and if present deemed not at risk for Fy(b) alloimmunization. The majority of patients with SCD and thalassemia are RhD positive (97% and 90% respectively), but differ in extended Rh phenotype, with Ro (Dce) prevalent in SCD pa tients (61%), and R1 (DCe) in thalassemia patients (79%). For patients with SCD, the most prevalent antigen-negative phenotypes were 17% C-E-K-,Fy(a-),Jk(b-), S-; 9% C-E-K-, Fy(a-),S-; 5% E-K-,Fy(a-),S-; and 4% C-K-,Fy(a-), Jk(b-), S-. In patients with thalassemia, no minor antigen profile exceeded 5% of individuals. The most prevalent antigen-negative profiles were 5% E-c-K-, Fy(b-),Jk(b-),S-, and 4% E-K-. Comparison of the most prevalent antigen-negative phenotype in patients with SCD with the donors revealed only 0.06% Caucasian (n=2), but 20% of the African-American donors (n=90) were antigen-negative matches. For the second most prevalent phenotype, 0.08% Caucasian (n=3) and 33% of African-American (n=167), 2% of Hispanic (n=13), and 5% other (n=5) were antigen-negative matches. For the third and fourth prevalent phenotypes, 47% of African-American (n=233) and 23% (n=115) respectively, were antigen-negative matches, while only 0.14% (n=5) and 0.06% (n=2) of Caucasians, but 5% (n=31) and 2% (n=13) of Hispanic donors were appropriate matches, respectively. For the thalassemia patients, antigen matches for the most common phenotype were found most often in Asian (13%) and donors identifying as “other” (6%). Matches were present in only 2% of the Caucasians, 2% of Hispanics, and 1.8% of African-American donors for thalassemia patients. These results confirmed the importance and impact of African-American donors for extended antigen-matching for patients with SCD. Less than 1% of our Caucasian donors could serve as extended matching for SCD. Nearly 20% of patients with SCD are negative for a common group of antigens, which allows future donor recruitment efforts focused on extended antigen profiles of the donor. Patients with thalassemia do not have a common antigen-negative profile, but extended matching for these patients can be improved by increase recruitment of Asian donors. High throughput genotyping enables typing of large numbers of donors, and potentially the majority of the donor inventory. Analysis of antigen-negative phenotypes in the donor pool with analysis of patient groups is important for inventory management, focused donor recruitment, and improved transfusion practice by avoiding alloimmunization. Disclosures: Stassinopoulos: Cerus: Employment, Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties.


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