Abstracto

Nocturnal enuresis among Sudanese children with sickle cell disease.

Fathelrahman E Ahmed, Eslam E Salim, Karim Eldin M Salih

Background: Nocturnal enuresis (NE) is prevalent in patients with sickle cell disease. This has been attributed to a decreased ability to concentrate urine caused by sickling-induced nephropathy (hyposthenuria).Whether this is true in Sudanese children with sickle cell anemia is unknown.

Objective: To determine the frequency of NE in Sudanese children with sickle cell anemia and to see if hyposthenuria is the cause of NE in these patients. Method: A hospital based cross sectional descriptive study of 87 children with sickle cell anemia who met the study criteria and age sex matched 53 children with sickle cell trait and 50 children with normal hemoglobin genotype as control was conducted in the outpatient’s clinic of a major pediatric hospital in Khartoum. A questionnaire was used to collect relevant data; urine specific gravity was measured using urine dipsticks.

Results: NE is present in38%, 13% and 12% of children with sickle cell anemia, sickle cell trait and the control respectively. Hyposthenuria was not detected in children with or without enuresis.NE is common in siblings of enuretic children but not their parents.

Conclusion: NE is frequent in Sudanese children with homozygous sickle cell disease. The frequency is not increased in children with sickle cell trait. Hyposthenuria is not detected in these children. Familial tendency for NE is observed.