Figure 5.

The frequency of leg ulcers was lower in parous women with sickle cell disease than in nulliparous women with sickle cell disease. (A, B) Total number of ulcers (A) and total number of episodes of ulcers (B) expressed as a normalized ratio over the age of each patient in the groups of nulliparous and parous patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). (C, D) Total number of ulcers (C) and total number of episodes of ulcers (D) expressed as a normalized ratio over the duration of pre-partum (from the first leg ulcer to the first pregnancy) and post-partum (from the first pregnancy to the last follow-up date) periods for each parous SCD patient who developed leg ulcers before the first pregnancy. (E, F) Correlation of normalized number of episodes of ulcers/year of life with gravidity (E) and parity (F). The linear regression curve is in red and its 95% confidence interval is in dashed black. Nineteen SCD patients with leg ulcers were included in the nulliparous group and 60 in the parous group. For the analysis of pre-partum and post-partum periods, 24 SCD patients were included. Data are presented as means ± standard deviations and individual values (A-D) or individual values (E, F). Statistical analyses were performed with a Mann-Whitney test (A, B), Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test (C, D) or simple linear regression (E, F). ns: not statistically significant; *P<0.05; **P<0.005.