Perfusion Asymmetries & Flow in Children with Sickle Cell Disease Assessed By Pseudo-Continuous Arterial Spin Labeling & Phase Contrast MRI

Sanna Gevers¹, Pim van Ooij¹, Matthias J. P. van Osch², Sandra van den Berg¹, Karin J. Fijnvandraat³, Charles B. L. M. Majoie¹, Aart J. Nederveen¹

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary anaemia characterized by chronic haemolytic anaemia and vascular occlusion. One of the complications of SCD is cerebral infarction. Infarction diagnosed on MRI is not always accompanied by neurological deficit but may be associated with decreased neurocognitive functioning and increased risk of new infarcts. Previous ASL studies in SCD have shown perfusion asymmetries. It remains to be investigated whether these asymmetries are reflecting perfusion differences or if they result from technical difficulties like insufficient delay time. Here, we used pseudo-continuous ASL and phase-contrast MRI for flow measurement, to evaluate perfusion asymmetries in SCD patients.