882 © 2018 Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Background: Sickle leg ulcer (SLU) is a chronic and debilitating complication of sickle cell disease (SCD) associated with huge physical and psychosocial discomfort. The occurrence of SLU has remained steady despite successful preventive strategies and advances in SCD care. Although multifactorial factors have been implicated in SLU, these are not fully understood, and data on how these relate to young Nigerian SCD patients are scanty. Aims: This study aims to evaluate the sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory markers of SLU in a young Nigerian SCD cohort. Patients and Methods: This study involved 109 young SCD patients and 67 healthy peers. The sociodemographic and laboratory parameters of the participants were examined in addition to the evaluation of the SCD cohort for SLU. Results: Only the HbSS patients had SLU. This was found in six of them giving a prevalence of 5.9% (6/101). Their median age was 17, range 14–21 years. There was a preceding history of trauma in 4 (66.7%), and this included a case of traditional scarifcations for local therapeutic purposes. Two of the three (66.7%) males with SLU also had priapism (P = 0.0132). Patients with SLU were older, had less frequent bone pain crises, and signifcantly belonged to the low socioeconomic class (P < 0.05). Although patients with SLU had relatively higher lactate dehydrogenase, platelet count, aspartate transaminase, bilirubin, white blood cell, and lower Hb concentration and HbF, these did not attain statistical signifcance (P > 0.05). Conclusion: This study confrms that SLU is common among young SCD patients with HbSS genotype, low socioeconomic background, and older age. It also suggests that SLU could be more related to hemolysis‑associated SCD phenotypes among the patients. Keywords: Children, laboratory and clinical parameters, Nigeria, sickle leg ulcer, sociodemographic status Evaluation of Sociodemographic, Clinical, and Laboratory Markers of Sickle Leg Ulcers among Young Nigerians at a Tertiary Health Institution OS Olatunya 1,2 , DM Albuquerque 1 , AD Adekile 3 , FF Costa 1 Address for correspondence: Dr. OS Olatunya, Hematology and Hemotherapy Center, University of Campinas, Rua Carlos Chagas, 480, Barão Geraldo, Campinas 13083‑970, São Paulo, Brazil. E‑mail: ladeletunya@yahoo.com the homozygous state for the abnormal HbS. [1] Globally, about 312,000 neonates are born with the SCA annually and more than two‑thirds (75%) of these occur in Africa. [2] Nigeria is the country with the highest burden of SCA in the world. [3] Original Article Introduction S ickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited hemoglobin defect that is very common among Africans. [1] The disease results from mutation in the β‑globin gene. This mutation produces an abnormal hemoglobin known as HbS which is characterized by the (β 6GLU‑→VAL ) substitution occuring in compound combinations with other hemoglobin variants such as the Hb C, Hb D and interactions with thalassemia. [1] Patients with SCD present with variable disease severity, but the most severe form is the sickle cell anemia (SCA), which is 1 Hematology and Hemotherapy Center, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, 2 Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, Ekiti State University, Ekiti State, Nigeria, 3 Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait Abstract This is an open access journal, and artcles are distributed under the terms of the Creatve Commons Atributon-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creatons are licensed under the identcal terms. For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com How to cite this article: Olatunya OS, Albuquerque DM, Adekile AD, Costa FF. Evaluation of sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory markers of sickle leg ulcers among young Nigerians at a tertiary health institution. Niger J Clin Pract 2018;21:882-7. Date of Acceptance: 12-Apr-2018 Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.njcponline.com DOI: 10.4103/njcp.njcp_4_18 PMID: ******* [Downloaded free from http://www.njcponline.com on Saturday, July 20, 2019, IP: 197.210.45.97]