CHOLELITHIASIS IN CHILDREN WITH SICKLE-CELL DISEASE

Abdominal ultrasonography was performed on 305 children with sickle ce ll disease (SCD) (285 SS and 20 S-beta-thalassemia) to establish the p revalence of cholelithiasis in Saudi children with SCD, Their ages ran ged from 1 to 18 years (mean 10.45 years). Gallstones were demonstrate d in 60 children, giving a prevalence of 19.7%, An additional 50 patie nts (16.4%) had only biliary sludge. The youngest patient with gallsto nes was 3 years old. There was a correlation between the presence of g allstones and increasing age. Patients with gallstones were also found to have higher serum bilirubin levels, but their hemoglobin, hematocr it, reticulocyte count, hemoglobin S, and hemoglobin F levels were not significantly different from those of patients without gallstones.