Benign ocular manifestations of sickle cell anemia in Arabs

A complete ophthalmic examination was carried out for each of 54 adult patients with various forms of sickle cell disease. Mild and infrequent signs in the anterior and posterior segments were found, but there were no cases of proliferative sickle cell retinopathy detected. These findings were compared with the reported findings in the black Americans of African origin with the same disease. The probable explanations were the high prevalence of fetal haemoglobin in Arab sicklers, the rarity of sickle cell disease among the Arabs and the possible existence of a different gene.