Acute Chest Syndrome Insights

Acute chest syndrome, a major cause of hospitalization in sickle cell disease patients, presents challenges as it resembles pneumonia. It leads to a substantial number of deaths in these patients, accounting for 25% of fatalities with a mortality rate of 9% per episode in adults. Triggers for this syndrome can be infectious or non-infectious, with almost half of cases having no identified cause. Vaso-occlusive crisis and bacterial pneumonia are common inciting events, with mycoplasma and chlamydia pneumoniae being common agents in children along with asthma as a trigger.