See Also: sickle-cell(dictionary)
Sickle cell(medicine)
sickle cell haemoglobin(medicine)
Sickle Cell Disease(health)
Sickle cell anemia(health)
anaemia, sickle cell(medicine)
Sickle cell trait(health)
sickle cell C disease(medicine)
sickle cell trait(medicine)
Disease, sickle cell(health)

sickle-cell (iou)



sickle-cell noun. E20.
[from SICKLE noun + CELL noun1.]
Medicine. Any of the crescent-shaped red blood cells found in the blood of people with sickle-cell anaemia.
Comb.: sickle-cell anaemia, sickle-cell disease a frequently fatal form of anaemia, characterized by the presence of red blood cells that are rich in sickle-cell haemoglobin and sickle readily; sickle-cell gene an autosomal gene which when heterozygous produces the sickle-cell trait and when homozygous sickle-cell anaemia, common in tropical Africa; sickle-cell haemoglobin an abnormal haemoglobin which tends to produce a characteristic crescent shape in red blood cells containing it; sickle-cell trait a relatively harmless condition, characterized by the presence of red blood cells containing some sickle-cell haemoglobin and conferring some resistance to malaria.