Priapism Associated With the Sickle Cell Hemoglobinopathies: Prevalence, Natural History and Sequelae

To determine the prevalence and characteristics of priapism associated with sickle cell hemoglobinopathic conditions we interviewed and examined 52 men with sickle cell anemia, 10 with sickle C disease, 3 with sickle B(+)-thalassemia and 19 with sickle cell trait. Of the men 20 with sickle cell anemia (38%) and 1 with sickle B(+)-thalassemia (33%) reported past priapism attacks. Average patient age at onset in the sickle cell anemia patients was 19 years (range 8 to 30 years). Four men had had only 1 attack. The average number of attacks per year in the remaining patients ranged from 1 to 52. Of the patients who reported multiple attacks the average duration of a typical episode and the duration of the longest self-limiting episode was 1.6 and 7.0 hours, respectively. Six patients had experienced 1 attack that persisted for longer than 24 hours. There were no significant differences between the clinical and hematological parameters of the sickle cell anemia patients who did and did not experience priapism or of the priapism patients who had and had not experienced episodes lasting greater than 24 hours. Six patients had been hospitalized for priapism and 4 were treated with a shunting procedure. Of the latter patients 2 were impotent but there was no significant alteration in the sexual function of the other study participants.