Enhanced Long-Term Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evaluation of Children with Sickle Cell Disease after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common cause of stroke in children. Strokes and “clinically silent” infarcts are caused by progressive sickle vasculopathy in large and small vessels [1-4], leading to SCD brain vasculopathy. Both stroke types can affect neurological and cognitive function starting early in childhood [1,2,5-9]. Stroke or stroke risk is a frequent indication f or pediatric SCD transplantation [10-12]. Based on several studies using brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) is believed to halt progression of vasculopathy [10,12-16].

Source: Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation - January 8, 2017 Category: Hematology Authors: Nancy S. Green, Monica Bhatia, Erica Y. Griffith, Mahvish Qureshi, Courtney Briamonte, Mirko Savone, Stephen Sands, Margaret T. Lee, Angela Lignelli, Adam M. Brickman Source Type: research