[Use of magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate morphological disorders in the brains of patients with sickle cell anaemia].

INTRODUCTION

Blocked blood flow in the brain of patients with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) gives rise to disorders in this organ and, occasionally, courses with no clinical symptoms.

AIMS

Our objective was to determine the most common lesions in the brains of patients with SCA in the eastern region of Cuba.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We conducted a study with children and adults with SCA, who were voluntarily included in the research protocol. The 28 adult patients had no history of vaso-occlusive crises of the central nervous system, and their ages ranged from 17 to 48 years. In addition, 50 paediatric-aged patients between the ages of 2 and 17 years were evaluated. Images were obtained with the Cuban magnetic resonance imaging equipment Giroimag 01 at 0.05 T.

RESULTS

Both studies showed that cortical atrophy (CA) is the most frequent brain lesion among those found in the population of patients evaluated. The study revealed 35.7% of patients with silent lesions in adults and 18% in the children.

CONCLUSIONS

CA is the lesion that is most commonly seen in the population studied. The brain lesions that were found are possibly triggered by the effect of blockages in the blood flow in the brain. A population study must be conducted in order to determine the first disorders triggered by the blocked blood flow in the brains of these patients. There is also a need to evaluate the possible risk factors that favour the development of these lesions.