Meher Juttukonda1, Manus Donahue1, Melissa Gindville2, and Lori Jordan2
1Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, 2Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
Quantitative
CBF maps derived from pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) may be useful in assessing
stroke risk in sickle cell anemia (SCA) patients, but T1 relaxation
of SCA blood must first be characterized. Venous blood samples were collected
from SCA patients as well as normal subjects, and an inversion recovery
approach was used to quantify the T1 relaxation times ex vivo. For similar hematocrit,
oxygenation, and temperature, T1 relaxation times of SCA blood
appear similar to those of normal blood. Therefore, computation of CBF in SCA
patients may not be affected by the assumption of normal blood T1
relaxation.
