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Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity is Not Associated with Serum Hemoglobin in Children with Malaria‐Associated Anemia
Author(s) -
Taty Tshimanga M.,
Mabiala Joseph B.,
Lovett Marlina E.,
Pongo Jean,
Musungufu Davin A.,
Uchama Mananu,
O'Brien Nicole F.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of neuroimaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1552-6569
pISSN - 1051-2284
DOI - 10.1111/jon.12715
Subject(s) - medicine , transcranial doppler , middle cerebral artery , anemia , malaria , hemoglobin , cerebral malaria , pediatrics , cerebral blood flow , observational study , coma (optics) , prospective cohort study , anesthesia , immunology , plasmodium falciparum , ischemia , physics , optics
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hemoglobin (Hbg) is often thought to impact cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV). This study was performed to investigate the relationship between Hbg value and CBFV in African children with malaria. METHODS In this prospective, observational study, children aged 3 months to 18 years with malaria and a normal Blantyre coma score underwent a single transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) examination with a concurrent Hbg check. RESULTS One hundred fifty‐six children with a mean age of 43 months were enrolled. Thirty‐three children (21%) had severe anemia (Hbg <5g/dL), 46 (29%) had moderate anemia (Hbg 5‐6.9 g/dL), 63 children (41%) had mild anemia (7‐9.9 g/dL), and 14 children (9%) had no anemia (Hbg >10 g/dL) at the time of TCD examination. Mean averaged CBFV in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) for the cohort was 99% of predicted based on normative values standardized for age. There was no significant correlation between Hbg levels and measured CBFV in the MCA ( r = −.09; 95% CI, −.24‐.07; P = .29). CONCLUSION In a large sample of African children with malaria, Hbg did not correlate with CBFVs as measured by TCD. Future work that includes baseline TCD measurements and Hbg values as well as other physiological parameters known to influence CBFVs is necessary to confirm these findings.