Neonatal Sickle Cell Anemia

The purpose of this report is to emphasize the possibility of the occasional early onset of sickle cell anemia and to consider it in the differential diagnosis of jaundice during the neonatal period in the Negro. Sickle cell anemia1is a hereditary and congenital disease of the hemopoietic system occurring almost entirely in members of the Negro race. It is characterized by the presence of crescent-shaped or sickle-shaped red blood cells which, under certain conditions, are hemolyzed, resulting in anemia. From numerous investigations, it appears that between 5 and 10 per cent of all persons showing sicklemia later show an associated anemia. Even though the young are more prone to the disease than the old, it may occur at almost any age. Mulherin2reported that the blood from the cords of 2 newborn infants and from the peripheral circulation of 2 babies, aged 3 and 5 days, who