Visualizing Sickle Cell Disease Whole Blood Flow and Viscosity through Modifications to Hemoglobin Levels from a Simple Blood Transfusion

Red cell transfusions are an effective part of a clinical care regiment in the treatment of chronic sickle cell disease; however, the understanding of the target hemoglobin levels has not been investigated past the standard hematocrit/hemoglobin (HgB) of 10 g/dL. A simple transfusion of packed red cells can be a beneficial clinical treatment of acute pain crisis or even stroke. Along with other transfusion-based complications, when performing a simple transfusion, the changes in blood velocity as a result of increased blood viscosity from the additional red cells can lead to complications of their own. Because of this, clinical treatment has hesitated to transfuse sickle patients above a HgB of 10 g/dL.