Table 1. Spectrum of clinical manifestations in the 90 sickle cell study patients according to age.

	All children (n  =  90)		Children <5 years (n  =  47)		Children ≧5 years (n  =  43)
Clinical findings	Frequency (n)	Percent (%)	Frequency (n)	Percent (%)	Frequency (n)	Percent (%)
Fever	90	100	47	100	43	100
loud systolic murmur >2/6	85	94.4	45	95.7	40	93.0
Pallor	82	91.1	43	91.5	39	90.7
Jaundice	81	90.0	41	87.2	40	93.0
Lethargy***	64	71.1	44	93.6	20	46.5
Severe anemia*** (Hb ≤5g/dl)	49	54.4	37	78.7	12	27.9
Respiratory distress***	39	43.3	32	68.1	7	16.3
Splenomegaly***	34	37.8	29	61.7	5	11.6
Hepatomegaly**	26	28.9	20	42.6	6	14.0
Digestive disorders**	24	26.7	18	38.3	6	14.0
Headache***	22	24.4	3	6.4	19	44.2
Abdominal pain	21	23.3	14	29.8	7	16.3
Prostration*	13	14.6	11	23.4	2	4.7
Hemoglobinuria	1	1.1	0	0	1	2.3
Seizures	0	0	0	0	0	0
Abnormal bleeding	0	0	0	0	0	0
Circulatory collapse	0	0	0	0	0	0
Acute crisis related to sickle cell disease (SCD)
Hyperhemolytic*** crisis	49	54.4	37	78.7	12	27.9
Pain crisis***	46	51.1	35	74.5	11	25.6
Hand–foot*** syndrome	11	12.2	11	23.4	0	0
Spleen sequestration	0	0	0	0	0	0

*<0.05; **<0.01; ***<0.001 (χ² test).