The Role of Red Cell Characteristics, Angiogenesis, Viscosity and Oxygenation in the Pathophysiology of Sickle Cell Related Retinopathy

Objective: to gain insight in the pathogenesis, to identify biomarkers to recognize patients at risk for proliferative SCR and to investigate its associations with clinical and laboratory characteristics. Endpoints: The investigators will determine the difference in the above named parameters between patients with and without PSCR Study design: This case control study will include adult sickle cell disease patients with the HbSS or HbSC genotype. For both genotypes, 20 patients without sickle cell retinopathy (SCR) and 20 patients with PSCR will be included, resulting in a total of 80 patients. Venous blood samples and retinal imaging scans will be collected for each included patient.