Decreased Temperature Associated With Increased Ed Visits By Patients With Sickle Cell Disease

Introduction: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder diagnosed at birth, characterized by repeated acute complications leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Patients subjectively state extreme temperatures trigger sickle cell complications such as vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) and acute chest syndrome (ACS), leading previous studies to examine the relationship between environmental factors and rates of acute SCD complications with mixed results. Dessap et al. found a correlation between SCD admissions and daily temperature change but not mean daily temperature, whereas Nolan et al. found only windspeed to have a significant correlation. We hypothesized an association exists between temperature, windspeed, and humidity and ED visits for VOC and ACS.