At Children’s Hospital, the Sickle Cell Disease Clinic is held once a week and offers comprehensive treatment in pain management, transfusion and chelation therapy, as well as psychosocial support and counseling. Sickle cell clinics in collaboration with LSUHSC are also held in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Lake Charles
Children’s Hospital is also part of the STOP II trial, a NIH-sponsored study to evaluate and prevent strokes in patients with sickle cell disease. Because of this participation, Children’s Hospital was one of the first facilities in the state of Louisiana to provide expertise in doing transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) through our radiology department, headed by Dr. Ken Ward. This imaging study determines which sickle cell patient is at risk of stroke and which interventions are instituted to prevent this devastating complication.
Children’s Hospital is also the site of a Novartis-sponsored study of the efficacy of the new oral chelator, Exjade, which has engendered considerable excitement in the Hematology field. It offers patients with hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia (as well as other disorders requiring chronic transfusion [e.g., Diamond-Blackfan anemia or aplastic anemia]) the opportunity to prevent and lessen iron overload, which would otherwise lead to cumulative toxicity to the heart, lungs and liver. It promises to improve compliance, eliminating the tedious and painful Desferal injections, and by doing so, eventually improve quality of life and extend life expectancy. The hematology/oncology service is also involved in a trial of a novel agent manufactured by Celgene that is designed to prevent dehydration of sickle cells—a process that is implicated in the evolution of sickling. These and other trials are being conducted with the aim of finding means to prevent and treat more effectively the complications of sickle cell and its treatments.
Individuals interested in participating in or learning about these trials should contact Drs. Renée Gardner at (504) 896-9740.