Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in patients with sickle cell anaemia in Jos, North central Nigeria

This is a study of Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase(G6PD) deficiency in sickle cell anaemia patients attending the haematology clinic of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Jos- Nigeria. The prevalence of G6PD deficiency among the 130 sickle cell anaemia patients studied was found to be 18.5%. G6PD deficient sickle cell anaemia (SCA) patients had higher haematocrit and haemoglobin concentration, higher frequency of episodes of painful crisis and were admitted more frequently in hospital than SCA patients with normal G6PD activity. The results obtained may seem to suggest that G6PD deficiency may exert a worsening effect on SCA which calls for routine screening of all steady state SCA patients for G6PD deficiency during their first visit to the clinic. Keywords: G6PD deficiency, SCA, haematological parameter, clinical severity, Jos Journal of Medicine in the Tropics Vol. 7(2) 2005: 20-2