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Silent brain infarcts are rare in Kuwaiti children with sickle cell disease and high Hb F
Author(s) -
Adekile A.D.,
Yacoub F.,
Gupta R.,
Sinan T.,
Haider M.Z.,
Habeeb Y.,
AlBloushi M.,
Moosa A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american journal of hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1096-8652
pISSN - 0361-8609
DOI - 10.1002/ajh.10143
Subject(s) - medicine , abnormality , sickle cell anemia , stroke (engine) , pediatrics , magnetic resonance imaging , cerebral infarction , white matter , disease , radiology , ischemia , psychiatry , mechanical engineering , engineering
Abstract Overt stroke is rare among sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in Kuwait. However, there are no previous studies of silent cerebral infarcts, which have been described in up to 20% of American children with Hb SS. We have carried out a prospective brain MRI study among otherwise normal SCD patients, who were consecutive patients seen in a 1‐year period to document the prevalence of silent cerebral infarcts in children with sickle cell disease in Kuwait. Any patient with a previous seizure or other neurological abnormality was excluded. MRI was done with a 1.5 Tesla unit with super‐conducting magnet. T1‐ and T2‐weighted sagittal and axial sections and proton density axial images were obtained in 5‐mm thick sections. The study group consisted of 30 (23 SS and 7 Sβ 0 Thal) patients—19 males and 11 females—whose ages ranged from 6 to 17 (mean of 9.8 ± 3.5) years. Hb F ranged from 11% to 35% with a mean of 22.8% ± 5.7%. Only one patient, a 10‐and‐a‐half‐year‐old boy with Hb SS, showed hyperintense signals in the parietal white matter, consistent with small infarcts, thus giving a prevalence of 3.3%. Silent brain infarcts are uncommon in our patients, and the protective factors remain to be fully elucidated. Am. J. Hematol. 70:228–231, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.