sickle–cell anemia

noun

medical : a serious disease that affects the red blood cells and occurs mostly in people of African, Mediterranean, or southwest Asian ancestry

Full Definition of SICKLE-CELL ANEMIA

: a chronic inherited anemia that occurs primarily in individuals of African, Mediterranean, or southwest Asian ancestry who are homozygous for the gene controlling hemoglobin S and that is characterized especially by episodic blocking of small blood vessels by sickle cells —called also sickle-cell disease

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First Known Use of SICKLE-CELL ANEMIA

1922

Medical Dictionary

sickle–cell anemia

noun

Medical Definition of SICKLE–CELL ANEMIA

: a chronic anemia that occurs in individuals (as those of African or Mediterranean descent) who are homozygous for the gene controlling hemoglobin S and that is characterized by destruction of red blood cells and by episodic blocking of blood vessels by the adherence of sickle cells to the vascular endothelium which causes the serious complications of the disease (as organ failure)