Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle Cell Anemia is caused by an inherited hemoglobin disorder. Healthy red blood cells are discoid and can deform and move through small blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. In sickle cell disease, as red blood cells circulate and oxygen is released in the circulatory system, the deoxygenated abnormal hemoglobin S polymerizes. When this occurs, the red blood cells can become sticky and elongated to look like a C-shaped farm tool called a 'sickle'. These sickled red blood cells do not deform. They obstruct small blood vessels and can block normal red blood cells from traveling through the circulatory system limiting oxygen delivery to tissues and organs. This is known as a "sickle crisis".

The number of crises a patient experiences varies. Most Sickle Cell Anemia patients experience at least one sickle crisis at some point during their lives; some may suffer 15 or more crises each year.

Sickle Cell Crisis

Patients suffering from a sickle crisis experience severe pain and are at risk of stroke, heart attack or even death. By lowering the level of oxygen pressure at which sickling occurs and opening the vasculature and rapidly delivering oxygen directly to ischemic tissues, the addition of MP4CO to existing treatment protocols may alleviate pain associated with a sickle cell crisis, abort a crisis and/or potentially reduce the duration of a crisis. This could mean less time in the hospital and an improved quality of life for patients with sickle cell anemia.