Sickle Cell Anemia 1910-1973

Abstract

It seems fitting that in 1973, the Archives should undertake to report to American physicians an evaluation of the current status of knowledge concerning sickle cell anemia. Sixty-three years ago in 1910, Dr. Herrick, a Chicago cardiologist, used the sixth volume of the Archives to place into the literature the first reported case of the disease; he described a West Indian student with "peculiar elongated and sickle cell shaped red blood corpuscles," a cardiac murmur, and severe anemia.¹During the six decades that have ensued since this first report, a large body of knowledge has amassed concerning the clinical description of sickle cell anemia, the pathology and pathophysiology of the disease, the intriguing morphologic features and behavior of the sickle erythrocyte, and more recently, the molecular characteristics and behavior of sickle hemoglobin. Many of the facts contained within this body of knowledge are chronicled and summarized in the articles