Sickle cell anaemia [in Nigerian children].

Explains the medical genetics and portrays the clinical manifestationsof sickle cell anaemia as seen in Yoruba children of the village of Ilobe, Western Nigeria, where in the mid-1950s about 1 child in 64 was born with sickle cell anaemia. Signs and symptoms shown include marked enlargement of the heart and liver; slight cranial and facial deformities; deformed hip joints; ossification of the lower legs; congestion of the lungs; deterioration of the spleen; infarction of the legs, and chronic haemolytic anaemia. Also frankly discusses the very modest results of treatment with iron and liver extracts and the ultimately fatal outcome of the disease.