Altered pulmonary capillary blood volume in childhood sickle cell disease.

Abstract

It has consistently been shown that patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) exhibit a compensatory increase in pulmonary capillary blood volume (PCBV), at least in a specific subgroup of patients [1]. This increase in PCBV could be related to the anaemia-induced increase in cardiac output [2]. Chaudry et al. [3] showed that SCD patients failed to recruit and dilate their pulmonary capillary bed to the same extent as control subjects for a given rise in effective pulmonary blood flow. One may therefore hypothesise that PCBV is already maximally recruited at rest; however, this has yet to be confirmed. Furthermore, it is not clear whether this potential defective pulmonary vascular recruitment is related to SCD history. Children with sickle cell disease have a pulmonary capillary blood volume that is already dilated at rest and that may initiate a restrictive defect <https://bit.ly/2MRaqkc> P. Bokov and C. Delclaux thank Nicole Beydon for initiating the subject of the present study.