Doctors may soon have a more reliable way to predict how severely sickle cell anaemia (SCA) will affect Indian patients, thanks to a new India-specific disease severity score developed by scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).
The new tool, developed using clinical data from Indian children, could improve treatment decisions and disease management as existing international scoring systems do not accurately reflect the clinical profile of Indian patients with SCA, whose disease patterns often differ from those seen in African and Western populations. He and fellow scientists including Suraj S. Nongmaithem, Amitabh Biswas, Swaroop Iyer, Jandhayala Vyshnavi, Archana Wath and Dipty Jain conducted this study. The score was modified adding four clinical features frequently observed among Indian patients — recurrent blood transfusions, severe anaemia requiring hospitalisation and acute febrile illnesses. This enables clinicians to decide the management without the need for many laboratory investigations. “We believe the new scoring systems could help doctors make quicker and more informed decisions on treatment, including the use and dosage of hydroxyurea, one of the primary drugs used to manage SCA. Chandak.
The study found that the widely used Paediatric Severity Score (PSS), developed using international patient data, matched expert clinical assessments in only about 67% of cases. The revised model — ‘ISS1’ (India-specific Severity Score), improved clinical assessments to nearly 83%. A second version, ‘ISS2’, replaced the laboratory measurements with easily observable clinical indicators to achieve an overall concordance of about 85%, correctly identifying all patients in the mild category and improving performance in moderate cases.
This study adds to the comprehensive efforts by CSIR-CCMB in making a difference in the lives of Indian SCA patients, under CSIR-Sickle Cell Anaemia Mission”, said Dr.
