Febrile coma and multi-organ failure revealing haemoglobinopathy SC.

We report the case of febrile fatal coma in a 51-year-old man from Burkina Faso. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows cerebral fat embolism. Haemogl obin electrophoresis shows probably haemoglobinopathy SC. A short review of the literature demonstrate the need to consider this complication in patie nts with neurological or respiratory disorders, in areas where this disease is highly prevalent, irrespective of age. It also emphasizes the diagnosti c contribution of MRI and discusses the mechanism, the diagnosis as well as the difficulty of choosing-the appropriate therapeutic course. (C) 2001 Ed itions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.