Silent infarction as a risk factor for overt stroke in children with sickle cell anemia: a report from the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease.

2001

https://researcherprofiles.org/profile/1425147

11562618

Miller ST, Macklin EA, Pegelow CH, Kinney TR, Sleeper LA, Bello JA, DeWitt LD, Gallagher DM, Guarini L, Moser FG, Ohene-Frempong K, Sanchez N, Vichinsky EP, Wang WC, Wethers DL, Younkin DP, Zimmerman RA, DeBaun MR, Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether children with homozygous sickle cell anemia (SCD) who have silent infarcts on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain are at increased risk for overt stroke.

METHODS

We selected patients with homozygous SCD who (1) enrolled in the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease (CSSCD) before age 6 months, (2) had at least 1 study-mandated brain MRI at age 6 years or older, and (3) had no overt stroke before a first MRI. MRI results and clinical and laboratory parameters were tested as predictors of stroke.

RESULTS

Among 248 eligible patients, mean age at first MRI was 8.3 +/- 1.9 years, and mean follow-up after baseline MRI was 5.2 +/- 2.2 years. Five (8.1%) of 62 patients with silent infarct had strokes compared with 1 (0.5%) of 186 patients without prior silent infarct; incidence per 100 patient-years of follow-up was increased 14-fold (1.45 per 100 patient-years vs 0.11 per 100 patient-years, P =.006). Of several clinical and laboratory parameters examined, silent infarct was the strongest independent predictor of stroke (hazard ratio = 7.2, P =.027).

CONCLUSIONS

Silent infarct identified at age 6 years or older is associated with increased stroke risk.

Journal Issue

Volume 139 of Issue 3