Automated Red Blood Cell Exchange Enhances Quality of Life in Sickle Cell Disease Patients By Investing.com

Recent peer-reviewed study supports what patients shared with their own voices: Automated red blood cell exchange improves the lives of people struggling with sickle cell disease

LAKEWOOD, Colo., Nov. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Pain. It haunts patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). They live with the looming threat of acute pain crises that could land them in the hospital ” where they can struggle to find relief.

“A sickle cell disease pain crisis is indescribable. It takes your breath, it takes everything,” comments Bola Jibodu, a Sickle Cell Warrior from the UK.

Especially after a major SCD drug was recently withdrawn from the market,^[1] patients will be looking for other options to prevent pain and other dangerous complications from a disease that robs them of so much.

Thankfully, another therapeutic avenue already exists ” automated red blood cell exchange (aRBCX), where the problematic sickled blood cells are removed and replaced with healthy donor cells. A team from Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies  (Terumo BCT)  recently completed a meta-analysis of retrospective data comparing the efficacy of different transfusion modalities used historically in SCD. A meta-analysis refers to a statistical method where researchers combine results from multiple studies that all used retrospective data (meaning they looked back at previously collected data) to analyze a particular research question, providing a more comprehensive picture compared to analyzing each individual study alone.

The meta-analysis completed by the Terumo BCT researchers examined over two decades of research documenting the efficacy of various SCD treatments and demonstrated that aRBCX consistently enhances the quality of life of patients with SCD.^[2]

Rona Wiggins knows this firsthand. Before she started aRBCX in the U.S. more than 20 years ago, “There wasn’t anything that was working for me. I would have pain in my joints, fatigue and jaundice.” By receiving regular aRBCX procedures, she says “I don’t have to worry about pain crises. I’m not as fatigued. It has afforded me to have a good quality of life. I am definitely living well with sickle cell.”

The analysis highlights aRBCX  as a proven therapy for managing SCD complications, leading to shorter hospital stays, reduced procedure times and fewer pain-related hospitalizations.

“Hospital used to be my second home,” says Bola. “I could be talking to you and then go straight into crisis, just that minute. You live every day not…