P-093: PREVALENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND CLINICAL FEATURES OF PRIAPISM IN SICKLE CELL DISEASE IN SENEGAL

Purpose: The frequency of priapism is very high in adult sickle cell patients. In Africa, the assessment of the level of knowledge of priapism in sickle cell patients showed that priapism was poorly known. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, prevalence and clinical features of priapism in adult sickle cell patients in Senegal. Materials and methods: This was a seven-month descriptive study of 219 male patients with sickle cell disease (SS, SC, S-beta-thalassemia). SS sickle cell patients were in the majority. A questionnaire was drawn up with a 20-minute interview with each patient to assess his or her knowledge and the clinical features of priapism. Results: The mean age of the patients was 27.1 years (18-54) (SD=7.1). Twenty-three patients (10.5%) were aware of priapism (p=0.004). The prevalence of priapism in sickle cell patients was 41.5%. SS sickle cell patients were at higher risk (91.2%). Eighty-five patients (93.4%) had at least one episode of intermittent priapism and 24 patients (26.4%) had acute priapism. The mean age of onset of the first episode of priapism was 20.4 years +/- 6.1 years. The majority of patients (62.5%) had consulted within the first 24 hours. The last episode of priapism in 50.5% of patients was more than 6 months ago. Priapism occurred at night during sleep in 92.3% of patients. Fifty-eight patients (63.7%) did not have any factors favouring the occurrence of priapism. Conclusion: Priapism is a frequent serious vaso-occlusive complication in sickle cell disease. We show in this study, a high prevalence, the lack of knowledge of priapism and the clinical particularities of priapism in sickle cell disease in Senegal. The authors do not declare any conflict of interest