Otological burdens of Nigerian children with sickle cell disease.

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with episodic illnesses, multi-systemic affectations and end-organs damages. Otolaryngological related complications are not unexpected. Studies on the overall Otolaryngological pathologies in children with SCD relative to their non-SCD counterparts are scanty in Nigeria. We hypothesized that children with SCD are likely to have more otological burdens than their non-SCD counterparts. Thus, we embarked on this study to describe and compare the overall ear diseases burdens seen in children with sickle cell disease relative to their non-SCD counterparts.

METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study of otologic diseases among children with SCD and their non-SCD counterparts attending the paediatrics and otolaryngological clinics of a Nigerian tertiary institution was conducted.

RESULTS: Overall, 80 (47.62%) of the 168 ears of SCD patients compared to 37 (22.02%) of the 168 ears of their non-SCD counterparts were affected by diseases (p < 0.0001). The diseases were Wax, Otitis Media with Effusion, Suppurative Otitis Media, Otosclerosis and Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL). There was a significant difference in the prevalence of SNHL and solitary otosclerosis between the SCD patients and their non-SCD counterparts (P < 0.05) respectively. Both the Haemoglobin concentration and HbF did not discriminate between the SCD participants with or without SNHL (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: This study showed that otological burdens are more prevalent in children with SCD than the non-SCD population. The microbiological peculiarity of suppurative otitis media (SOM) among participants stresses the need for concerted efforts at preventing SOM in SCD children. There is need for special Otolaryngological care for SCD children.