[en] Objectives: To determine the prevalence of red blood cell (RBC) alloimmunisation
and alloantibody specificity in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in Kisangani, Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) in comparison with those followed at the Centre Hospitalier
Régional (CHR) de la Citadelle of Liège (Belgium).
Background: Data regarding RBC alloimmunisation (immune response of the organism
to foreign erythrocyte antigens, antigens that lack on its own RBC) in SCD
patients are scarce in sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods: We conducted a multi-site-based cross-sectional study among 125 SCD
patients at Kisangani and 136 at the CHR de la Citadelle of Liège. The diagnosis of SCD
was confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Alloantibodies were
screened using the agglutination technique on gel cards and their specificity determined
using 11 and/or 16 cell panels. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS.
Results: The prevalence of RBC alloimmunisation was 9.6% among SCD patients in
Kisangani versus 22.8% in those of Liège. At Kisangani as well as at Liège, the median
age of alloimmunised patients was higher than that of non-alloimmunised patients,
15.5 years (IQR:4.8–19.8) and 24 years (IQR:14–31) versus 10 years (IQR: 6.5–17)
and 17 years (IQR:12–24), respectively. The median number of blood units was
higher in both Kisangani and Liège immunised patients compared to non-immunised
patients, 8 (IQR:5–11) versus 5 (IQR:3–13) and 41(IQR:6–93) versus 6.5(3–37)
respectively. At Kisangani (N = 14), the most frequent antibodies were anti-D
(28.6%) and anti-C versus anti-E (13.6%), anti-S (13.6%) and anti-Lea (11.4%) at
Liège (N = 44).
Conclusions: These findings stated that alloimmunisation is a common complication
in SCD patients in the DRC. In the resource-limited setting of this country, blood
transfusion with minimal ABO, D, C and E antigen matching in addition to the use of
compatibility test could significantly reduce the incidence of this complication.
Research Center/Unit :
CIRM - Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur le Médicament - ULiège
Disciplines :
Hematology
Author, co-author :
KAMBALE KOMBI, Paul
Marini Djang'Eing'A, Roland ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de pharmacie > Chimie analytique ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Unités de recherche interfacultaires > Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur le Médicament (CIRM)
Alworong'a Opara, Jean-Pierre; UNIKIS - Université de Kisangani > Département de Pédiatrie
Minon, Jean-Marc; CHR Citadelle - Centre Hospitalier Régional de la Citadelle [BE] > Département de Thrombose-hémostase et Transfusion
Sepulchre, Edith ; CHR Citadelle - Centre Hospitalier Régional de la Citadelle [BE] > Département de Thrombose-hémostase et Transfusion
Bours, Vincent ; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège - CHU > > Service de génétique ; Université de Liège - ULiège > GIGA > GIGA Cancer - Human Genetics ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences biomédicales et précliniques > Génétique humaine
Floc'h, Aline; Etablissement français du sang (EFS), Ile de France
Pirenne, France; Etablissement français du sang (EFS), Ile de France
Kayembe Tshilumba, Charles; UNIKIS - Université de Kisangani > Département de Médecine Interne
Batina-Agasa, Salomon; UNIKIS - Université de Kisangani > Département de Médecine Interne
Language :
English
Title :
Red blood cell alloimmunisation in sickle cell disease patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Publication date :
01 November 2022
Journal title :
Transfusion Medicine
ISSN :
0958-7578
eISSN :
1365-3148
Publisher :
Blackwell, Oxford, United Kingdom
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Development Goals :
3. Good health and well-being 4. Quality education
Funders :
ARES CCD - Académie de Recherche et d'Enseignement Supérieur. Coopération au Développement
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