Blood pressure in acute vaso-occlusive crises of sickle cell disease

Objective. We compared blood pressure (BP) in patients with Sickle cell dis ease (SCD)-related crises and black patients without SCD. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed charts of emergency department (ED) pa tients with SCD crises in a 2-year period, recording BPs and demographic an d SCD data. A cohort of consecutive black patients without SCD was compared . Results. Included were 459 SCD-related visits, 187 by men and 272 by women, representing 106 patients. Women had significantly lower BP than men, dias tolic BP was significantly lower in patients with hemoglobin SS disease tha n in those with hemoglobin SC disease, and systolic BP was significantly lo wer in patients with bilateral versus unilateral pain. One SCD patient had a history of hypertension. The 125 non-SCD patients, excluding 25 with a hi story of hypertension, had significantly higher systolic and diastolic BP t han patients in SCD a-isis. Conclusion. No patients seen in SCD crisis were hypertensive. Patients who were female, had SS disease, or had bilateral pain had lower BP. Significan tly higher BP and more hypertension occurred in black patients without SCD.