Study Finds Only 3% of US Sickle Cell Patients Receive Red Blood Cell Exchange Treatment
Researchers say the procedure is effective and widely available at US hospitals, yet most eligible patients are not receiving it.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.
New research has found that only about 3% of sickle cell disease patients in the United States receive red blood cell exchange, a treatment researchers describe as effective despite being widely available at US hospitals.
Red blood cell exchange is a procedure that removes a patient's damaged red blood cells while mixing their remaining plasma, platelets and white blood cells with red blood cells from a donor, before returning the mixture to the body.
According to the study, a range of factors are preventing sickle cell patients from accessing the treatment, despite the technology already being present in many US hospitals capable of performing it.
Sickle cell disease disproportionately affects Black Americans in the United States, and researchers have long pointed to disparities in access to specialized treatments as a persistent challenge in managing the condition nationally.
Sources
- Only 3% of US sickle cell patients receive red blood cell exchange for disease, researchers find — The Guardian — World
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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