English

Alternative forms

• sickle-cell anemia (North America)
• sickle-cell anaemia (British)

Noun

sickle cell anaemia ‎(uncountable)

1. (pathology, Britain) A severe hereditary form of anaemia, mainly affecting people of African origin, in which mutated haemoglobin distorts red blood cells into a crescent shape, causing the cells to become stuck in capillaries. Downstream tissues are thus deprived of oxygen causing ischaemia and infarction.

Synonyms

• drepanocytosis
• sickle-cell disease

Translations