Sickle Cell Disease Revealed by Soft Tissue Abscess: One Case Report

Sickle cell disease is a haemoglobinopathy characterized by the occurrence of vaso-occlusive crises and osteoarticular complications.

We report the case of an infant with sickle cell disease revealed by a bilateral abscess of the feet. Our patient is an 18-month-old infant who has had bilateral swelling of the feet for a week with fever of 40 °C, a CRP of 129 mg/l and a leukocytosis of 32,000 elements/mm³ together with normochromic normocytic anemia at 7.9 g/dl.

The diagnosis of abscess was taken and a puncture was made finding a purulent fluid with isolation of Salmonella. In front of the bilateral character, Salmonella isolation and normochromic normocytic anemia, electrophoresis of hemoglobin was requested confirming the diagnosis of sickle cell disease. The progress was positive with hydration and antibiotic therapy.

Soft-tissue Salmonella infections must lead to thinking of sickle cell disease as a diagnosis especially with normochromic normocytic anemia combined.