Abstract #1835

Fiber connection density differences detected in patients with sickle cell disease

Julie Coloigner¹, Jacob Antony¹, Roza Vlosova², Adam Bush³, Soyoung Choi⁴, Maxime Descoteaux⁵, Jean-Christophe Houde⁵, Thomas Coates⁶, Natasha Lepore², and John Wood⁷

¹Radiology, Children's hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Radiology, Children's hospital, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁵Sherbrooke Connectivity Imaging Lab (SCIL), Computer Science Department, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 0A5, Canada, ⁶Hematology, Children's hospital, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁷Cardiology, Children's hospital, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic disorder characterize by progressive cerebrovascular damage. We hypothesized that subtle cerebral injury might be visible with diffusion imaging data in these patients. Tractography based on the fiber orientation distribution function (ODF) was applied in order to investigate the character and severity of white matter injury in patients with SCD. We found both decreased and increased fiber density in patients, compared to control subjects that co-localized with silent cerebral infarctions. These data suggest progressive white matter injury and compensatory mechanisms in SCD patients.

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