TY - JOUR T1 - Differences in lung function between children with sickle cell anaemia from West Africa and Europe JF - Thorax JO - Thorax SP - 1154 LP - 1160 DO - 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2019-213717 VL - 74 IS - 12 AU - Michele Arigliani AU - Luigi Castriotta AU - Ramatu Zubair AU - Livingstone Gayus Dogara AU - Chiara Zuiani AU - Emma Raywood AU - Katy Vecchiato AU - Enrico Petoello AU - Ashel Dache Sunday AU - Sharon Ndoro AU - Mario Canciano Canciani AU - Atul Gupta AU - Paola Cogo AU - Baba Inusa Y1 - 2019/12/01 UR - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/74/12/1154.abstract N2 - Introduction Lung function abnormalities are common in sickle cell anaemia (SCA) but data from sub-Saharan Africa are limited. We hypothesised that children with SCA from West Africa had worse lung function than their counterparts from Europe.Methods This prospective cross-sectional study evaluated spirometry and anthropometry in black African individuals with SCA (haemoglobin phenotype SS) aged 6–18 years from Nigeria and the UK, when clinically stable. Age-matched controls were also included in Nigeria to validate the Global Lung Initiative spirometry reference values.Results Nigerian SCA patients (n=154) had significant reductions in both FEV1 and FVC of ~1 z-score compared with local controls (n=364) and ~0.5 z-scores compared with the UK patients (n=101). Wasting (body mass index z-score<−2) had a prevalence of 27% in Nigerian patients and 7% in the UK ones (p<0.001). Among children with SCA, being resident in Nigeria (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1 to 4.9), wasting (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.1 to 5.0) and each additional year of age (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.4) were independently associated with increased risk of restrictive spirometry (FVC z-score<−1.64+FEV1/FVC≥−1.64).Conclusions This study showed that chronic respiratory impairment is more severe in children with SCA from West Africa than Europe. Our findings suggest the utility of implementing respiratory assessment in African children with SCA to early identify those with chronic lung injury, eligible for closer follow-up and more aggressive therapies. ER -