Association of Asthma with Acute Vaso-Occlusive Crisis Among French Guianese Children with Sickle Cell Disease.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of asthma on hospitalizations for acute vaso-occlusive pain episodes in children with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Methods: A multicenter nested case-control study was conducted over a period from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2022.

Results: The mean age of the study population was 8.41 ± 5.04 y, with an equal distribution of males and females. Among the 600 children with SCD included in the study, 35 were diagnosed with asthma, yielding a prevalence of 5.8%. Children with both SCD and asthma had a median of 6 hospitalizations (Range: 2-20), compared to 2 (Range: 1-4) in those without asthma (p < 0.001). In 90% of these cases, asthma exacerbation coincided with a sickle cell crisis. Besides vaso-occlusive episodes, other leading causes of hospitalization included pulmonary infections and acute chest syndrome. The incidence of acute chest syndrome was found to be 18 times higher in children with both asthma and sickle cell disease. Furthermore, children with both conditions were 3.99 times more likely to experience a vaso-occlusive crisis requiring hospitalization than those without asthma.

Conclusions: Children with sickle cell disease and asthma co-morbidity experience a significantly higher number of vaso-occlusive crises requiring hospitalization.