Ulcers of the Legs in Sickle Cell Anemia

In dermatologic practice ulcers of the legs often present difficulty in differential diagnosis. A Negro patient in our outpatient clinic who had had several such ulcers for many months was finally found to have sickle cell anemia. To direct more general attention to this possibility is the purpose of our communication. It is necessary first to review briefly the clinical and hematologic picture of the blood anomaly. Sickle cell anemia was first described by Herrick 1 in 1910. It was recognized early that while many of the Negro race show sickle cells in the peripheral blood—indeed, 7.8 per cent, according to Cardozo's 2 recent study—by no means all of this number are anemic. This has led to confusion in terminology. The anemia, first given Herrick's name, has been called sickle cell anemia and later drepanocytic anemia, while the terms sicklemia, meniscocytosis and drepanocytosis have been applied to the symptomless or