Nocturnal haemoglobin oxygen saturation variability is associated with vitamin C deficiency in Tanzanian children with sickle cell anaemia

AIM: To compare pulse oximetry in children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) and controls and test the hypothesis that vitamin C deficiency (VCD; <11.4 μmol/L) is associated with nocturnal haemoglobin oxygen desaturation in SCA. METHODS: We undertook nocturnal and daytime pulse oximetry in 23 children with SCA (median age 8 years) with known steady-state plasma vitamin C concentrations and 18 siblings (median 7 years). RESULTS: Median nocturnal delta 12 s index (delta12 s), a measure of haemoglobin oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) variability, was 0.38 (interquartile range 0.28–0.51) in SCA and 0.35 (0.23–0.48) in controls, with 9/23 and 6/18, respectively, having a delta12 s >0.4, compatible with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Eleven of twenty-three with SCA had VCD; logged vitamin C concentrations showed a 66% decrease per 0.1 unit increase in delta12 s ([95% CI −86%, −15%]; p = 0.023) and delta12 s >0.4 was associated with VCD (odds ratio 8.75 [1.24–61.7], p = 0.029). Daytime and mean nocturnal SpO(2) were lower in SCA but there was no association with vitamin C. CONCLUSION: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), detected from nocturnal haemoglobin oxygen saturation variability, is common in Tanzanian children and associated with vitamin C Deficiency in SCA. The direction of causality could be determined by comparing OSA treatment with vitamin C supplementation.