©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Mar 27, 2019; 11(3): 287-293
Published online Mar 27, 2019. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v11.i3.287
Published online Mar 27, 2019. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v11.i3.287
Extreme hyperbilirubinemia: An indicator of morbidity and mortality in sickle cell disease
John Paul Haydek, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
Cesar Taborda, Rushikesh Shah, Preeti A Reshamwala, Saurabh Chawla, Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States
Morgan L McLemore, Fuad El Rassi, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States
Author contributions: Shah R, Reshamwala PA, McLemore ML, El Rassi F and Chawla S designed research; Haydek JP and Taborda C collected clinical data; Haydek JP and Shah R analyzed data; Haydek JP wrote the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Emory Institutional Review Board under project number IRB00092809.
Informed consent statement: This study was retrospective in nature and was not associated with any clinical intervention and thus was exempt from informed consent per our institutional policies.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE statement and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to its checklist of items.
Corresponding author: Saurabh Chawla, MD, FACG, Associate Professor, Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, 49 Jesse Hill Jr. Dr. SE, Suite 431, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States. saurabh.chawla@emory.edu
Telephone: +1-404-7781684 Fax: +1-404-7781681
Received: November 25, 2018
Peer-review started: November 26, 2018
First decision: December 10, 2018
Revised: January 16, 2019
Accepted: January 28, 2019
Article in press: January 28, 2019
Published online: March 27, 2019
Processing time: 123 Days and 5.1 Hours
Peer-review started: November 26, 2018
First decision: December 10, 2018
Revised: January 16, 2019
Accepted: January 28, 2019
Article in press: January 28, 2019
Published online: March 27, 2019
Processing time: 123 Days and 5.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Sickle cell hepatopathy is a rarely studied complication of sickle cell disease. Little is known about prognostic factors related to it. In our study, we identified patients with one indicator of sickle cell hepatopathy, extreme hyperbilirubinemia, and analyzed outcomes related to their clinical state. High levels of bilirubin are indicative of elevated morbidity and need for blood transfusion among patients with sickle cell disease.