Transfusion in Sickle Cell Disease: Screening of Sickle Cell Disease Trait in Blood Donors

Bearers of the sickle cell allele (S) are currently eligible for blood donations in Belgium. As blood donors are not tested for this allele, their heterozygous status is unknown. However, guidelines recommend to transfuse sickle cell patients with blood that is negative for the 'S' hemoglobin. To the investigator's knowledge, no study has been conducted to evaluate the impact of transfusion with blood originating from heterozygous donors on the transfusion performance and the improvement of clinical status of the sickle cell disease patients.