FACTOR-V LEIDEN IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR STROKE IN PATIENTS WITH SICKLING DISORDERS AND IS UNCOMMON IN AFRICAN-AMERICANS WITH SICKLE-CELL DISEASE

Cerebrovascular accidents in patients with sickle cell anemia are amon g the most devastating complications of the disease. It has recently b een demonstrated that some patients have a hypercoagulable state on th e basis of the presence of an abnormal factor V molecule, factor V Lei den. We undertook this study to evaluate the presence of factor V Leid en in sickle cell patients with stroke. Eighty-two patients with eithe r Hgb SS, Hgb SC, or Hgb Spc-thalassemia comprised the study populatio n. Of the 82 patients in the study, 19 of them had a history of stroke . In our study population, none of the stroke patients possessed the f actor V Leiden mutation. One of the non-stroke patients was a heterozy gote for the mutation (P = 1.00). The overall frequency of the factor V Leiden allele in our population is 0.6%. The estimated prevalence fo r this mutation is reportedly between 3 and 7% in Caucasian population s. We conclude that the gene frequency for factor V Leiden is less com mon in Africa Americans with sickle cell disease. Furthermore, factor V Leiden does not appear to be responsible for the development of stro ke in sickle cell patients. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.