No Evidence Found Linking Sickle Cell Trait With Unexplained Sudden Death

MONDAY, Feb. 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — There is no evidence to support physical exertion without rhabdomyolysis or heat injury causing sudden death in individuals with sickle cell trait (SCT), nor is there evidence that SCT causes acute pain crises, according to a review published online Jan. 30 in Blood.

Noting that sickle cell crisis has been used as a cause of death for decedents with SCT in reports of exertion-related death, Lachelle D. Weeks, M.D., Ph.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of the literature relating to the occurrence of sickle cell pain crises and exertion-related mortality in people with SCT.

The researchers found no studies comparing uncomplicated pain crises in individuals with SCT and sickle cell disease. There were also no studies to support the occurrence of acute vaso-occlusive pain crises in individuals with SCT. No evidence was found to support an association between SCT and sudden unexplained death in the absence of exertion-related rhabdomyolysis.

“In the absence of two medical conditions that we are all at risk for, exertional rhabdomyolysis or crush injuries leading to rhabdomyolysis, individuals with SCT are not susceptible to sudden death. Even under these extreme environmental conditions, unexplained sudden death cannot be attributed to SCT,” coauthor Michael R. DeBaun, M.D., M.P.H., from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt-Meharry Sickle Cell Disease Center of Excellence in Nashville, Tennessee, said in a statement. “In individuals with SCT, the likelihood of SCT alone or pain crises being the root cause of sudden death is medically impossible.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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