On Location
American Society of Hematology ’ s
2016 ANNUAL MEETING & EXPOSITION
his month , we continue our coverage of the 58th ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition , taking a deep-dive into the practicechanging research from across the spectrum of hematologic malignancies .
Visit ashclinicalnews . org / on-location for our complete coverage of the meeting . Also , watch our interviews with presenters and moderators about the groundbreaking research that was shared at the meeting at ashclinicalnews . org / multimedia .
Attendees peruse and ask questions at the ASH booth .
A Life-Saving , Multidisciplinary Approach to Treating Pregnant Women With Sickle Cell Disease in Ghana
Pregnant women with sickle cell disease ( SCD ) living in Ghana have a high maternal mortality rate of 8,300 deaths per 100,000 live births – more than 10 times higher than in Ghanaian women without SCD ( 690 per 100,000 ) and more than 500 times higher than in U . S . women with SCD ( 14 per 100,000 ). Using a multidisciplinary approach to care for these patients , and establishing dedicated wards for pregnant women with SCD , can decrease the rates of maternal and perinatal mortality , according to the results of a prospective study presented at the 2016 ASH Annual Meeting . “ We saw a dramatic drop – close to a 90 percent reduction – in maternal deaths , which is really remarkable ,” said lead study author and presenter Eugenia Vicky Naa Kwarley Asare , MD , MBChB , BSc , from the Ghana Institute of Clinical Genetics at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra , Ghana , adding that these reductions were seen after just 13 months of the program ’ s implementation .
In 2015 , Dr . Asare and colleagues formed an obstetric SCD team that included obstetricians , hematologists , pulmonologists , and nurses to improve care and outcomes for pregnant women living with SCD . Other efforts of this intervention included :
• requiring regular team meetings among the obstetric team members to discuss complex patient cases
Eugenia Vicky Naa Kwarley Asare , MD , MBChB , BSc
22 ASH Clinical News January 2017 Annual Meeting Edition