Multinational CASiRe - Will Emerging Tools Harmonize Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease Patients?

More Programs and Publications Featuring Dr. Rafaella Colombatti

In this program:

Noted pediatric hematologist, Dr. Raffaella Colombatti provides perspective on her multinational CASiRe study (Consortium for the Advancement of Sickle Cell Research) of sickle cell disease in Europe. Dr. Colombatti speaks to the need for ethnic, cultural and geographical backgrounds to be considered when administering care to SCD populations.

Read Transcript

Question:
Can you give us the European perspective on your study and help us understand what it means for young patients and families facing sickle cell?

Dr. Raffaella Colombatti:
So, Sickle Cell disease in Europe is more recent than in the United States, and so we have a different type of patient population. They’re mainly first- or second-generation immigrants, and this means that there are a lot of cultural and social issues that have to be considered.

Question:
What are some of the novel tools being used to manage sickle cell disease and improve quality of life for younger patients?

Dr. Raffaella Colombatti:
So, of course everybody wants to use guidelines in order to harmonize treatment. And even if it has to be tailored on a patient by patient basis, and they are emerging -- the technological tools -- and emerging the quality of life are questionnaires that are being considered. And one of the things patients worldwide want is bigger attention on quality of life. And we’re still a little bit behind as clinicians on this aspect, but there are some poster/closer that push us toward this direction revealing what patients want.

Being taken care of in the U.S. is not the same as being taken care of in London or in Rome. And moreover, being taken care of in a big city hospital is not like being taken care of in a rural hospital, so this aspect has to be considered.

Question:
Are you hopeful about the future for patients sickle cell disease patients?

Dr. Raffaella Colombatti:
In the future, I think there will be many new fields of development both in treatments -- so new drugs available -- in guidelines, and also in attention to patients and to working together with patients to find the best care plan for everybody.

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