Hello, I'm Dr. Adrienne Scott here at the American Academy of Ophthalmology National Conference here in New Orleans, Louisiana. I've just presented an update on sickle cell retinopathy screening at subspecialty day for the retina section.

Screening practices for sickle cell retinopathy have been based upon expert consensus, not on level one evidence-based data thus far, and recommend screening for patients with sickle cell disease beginning at age 10 with a dilated fundus exam, hopefully by a retina specialist, with a subsequent exam every year to two afterward, or even more frequent depending on the findings.

These findings were established by a consensus panel back in 2014 and need to be updated based upon real level one evidence. Since that time in 2023, for example, there have been lots of updates and advances in sickle cell disease care, including things like curative gene therapy, and even bone marrow therapy transplantation. And, these particular therapies have been particularly transformative for patients with sickle cell disease, transforming them from sickle cell disease patients to more of a sickle cell trait status.

We still don't understand how sickle cell retinopathy is affected by these systemic curative therapies. Unfortunately, the therapies are very intensive for patients and carry a high price tag with them. So very few patients with sickle cell disease have received these to date.

We are in process of working with our hematology colleagues to better understand how blood flow is affected in the macula and retina periphery, based upon these systemic curative therapies. Further collaboration is absolutely necessary between hematologists and ophthalmologists to optimize care for systemic sickle cell disease, and also to prevent complications from sickle cell retinopathy.