Myocardial Performance Index Among Patients of Sickle Cell Disorder in Rural Teaching Hospital: A Case-Control Study

Objective: To evaluate the myocardial performance index (MPI) in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients, and to compare MPI in healthy individuals. Methods: In this case-controlled study, patients of SCD and age- and sex-matched controls were included. MPI was determined using echocardiographic Doppler-derived parameters. MPI according to disease type, sickle cell crisis, and in the presence of co-morbidities was compared. Results: Between October 2018 and September 2020, we enrolled 100 SCD patients and 100 age and sex-matched controls. The MPI was significantly higher in SCD than in the control group (0.411±0.028 vs. 0.387±0.015, respectively; p<0.0001). There was no difference in MPI according to disease type as SS or AS (p=0.903). In patients with sickle cell crisis, mean MPI was significantly higher than those without sickle cell crisis (0.443±0.003 vs. 0.403±0.025, respectively; p<0.0001). In patients with comorbidities, mean MPI was significantly higher than those without any comorbidity (0.432±0.021 vs. 0.404±0.026, respectively; p<0.0001). Conclusion: MPI can be a non-invasive tool for assessing subclinical cardiac dysfunction and should be considered for evaluating patients with SCD.