Prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell disease by amniocentesis using FTA technology in a context of precariousness in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and perspectives

ABSTRACT

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited hemoglobinopathy worldwide. Improving the quality of life of people with SCD requires prenatal and neonatal screening.

Our primary objective was to demonstrate that prenatal diagnosis of SCD is possible even in situations of poverty. Secondarily, we described the socioeconomic profile of couples seeking molecular diagnosis of SCD in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.