Oswaldo L. Castro, MD

Dr. Oswaldo Castro is Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC, and also a consultant to the Sickle Cell Clinic at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, United States of America. He received his medical school training at Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany, and his hematology specialty training at Yale University, New Haven, CT. Dr. Castro is certified in internal medicine and in hematology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He joined the Howard University faculty in 1974 as Deputy Director of the Center for Sickle Cell Disease. From 1990 to 2006, he was the Center’s Director. He now serves as a special advisor to the Center. Dr. Castro has had a life-long interest in the clinical and research aspects of sickle cell disease and has published over 100 scientific articles dealing primarily with complications of this disorder.

Interests: Pulmonary hypertension, transfusion medicine and iron deficiency as they relate to sickle cell disease.

Representative Publications:

Hospitalization for pain in patients with sickle cell disease treated with sildenafil for elevated TRV and low exercise capacity

Hydroxyurea and acute painful crises in sickle cell anemia: effects on hospital length of stay and opioid utilization during hospitalization, outpatient acute care contacts, and at home

Refining the value of secretory phospholipase A2 as a predictor of acute chest syndrome in sickle cell disease: results of a feasibility study (PROACTIVE)

Relative systemic hypertension in patients with sickle cell disease is associated with risk of pulmonary hypertension and renal insufficiency

Pathophysiology and treatment of pulmonary hypertension in sickle cell disease

Risk factors for death in 632 patients with sickle cell disease in the United States and United Kingdom

Clinical correlates of acute pulmonary events in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease