Sickle Cell-Hemoglobin C Crisis Precipitation by Fever Therapy

Abstract

Sickle cell-hemoglobin C (S-C) disease has a variable range of clinical severity and may have few symptoms that suggest a generalized disorder. In this patient the diagnosis was suspected because of a hemolytic crisis which was precipitated unintentionally by provoking fever in a Negro female as therapy for a retinopathy. This report discusses the possibility of precipitating a hemolytic crisis by means of fever therapy and emphasizes the importance of ocular findings in S-C disease. A 30-year-old Negro female was admitted to USAF Hospital, Lackland, in July, 1959, with reduced visual acuity. Three years earlier she had noted a sudden decrease in vision in both eyes and gradual improvement on bed rest. She stated that the vision returned completely in the right eye but remained relatively poor in the left. Approximately one year previous to admission, there was an episode during which the patient experienced temporary bilateral loss of vision.