Acute hepatic sequestration in sickle cell disease

Sickle cell anemia is a disease that affects one out of every 600 African Americans. It is often debilitating and can cause many physical restrictions to individuals with the disease. The disease has many complications which can be vexing for patients and their physicians. The hepatic complications attributed to vascular occlusion encompass a variety of clinical syndromes of which the relationship among clinical presentation, biochemical findings, and histologic features remains unclear. The conditions range from the self-limiting hepatic right upper quadrant syndrome (hepatic crisis) to the potentially lethal intrahepatic cholestasis and acute hepatic sequestration syndromes. Few cases have been documented, and there have not been many sizable studies on acute hepatic sequestration in sickle cell disease. This case is useful for clinicians who are not familiar with the intrahepatic vaso-occlusive syndromes in sickle cell disease. It provides insight into the presentation, diagnosis, and management of these syndromes.