Exposure to systemic corticosteroids appeared to increase risk for hospitalization for vaso-occlusive episodes among patients with sickle cell disease, according to a French study published in Blood.
Those most likely to be hospitalized included older adults, women and patients not treated with hydroxyurea, researchers wrote.
“Based on these results, we still need to think twice about using corticosteroids when treating patients with [sickle cell disease],” Ondine Walter, MD, of Toulouse University Hospital in France, said in a press release.
Patients with sickle cell disease