Prevention Of Morbidity In Sickle Cell Disease Pilot Phase

The hypothesis is that in sickle cell anaemia, nocturnal oxyhaemoglobin desaturation, is associated with low processing speed index, and this morbidity can be reduced with overnight auto Continuous Positive Airways Pressure and/or oxygen supplementation.

Intervention: Overnight auto Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP) with oxygen supplementation if mean overnight oxyhaemoglobin saturation is not >94% after 2 weeks of autoCPAP

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age >4 years.
2. Informed consent with assent in accordance with UK ethical committee(COREC) system must be signed by the patient's parent or legally authorized guardian acknowledging written consent to join the study. When suitable, patients will be requested to give their assent to join the study.
3. Haemoglobin SS (homozygous sickle cell anaemia) diagnosed by standard techniques. Participating institutions must submit documentation of the diagnostic haemoglobin analysis.