Abstract #3390

Glass J, Paydar A, Hankins G, Zou P, Ware R, Wang W, Reddick W, Ogg R, Helton K

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a devastating hematological disease marked by vaso-occlusive events leading to vasculopathy, brain injury and stroke. Prospective data from 28 patients were analyzed. T1, T2, PD, and FLAIR images were coregistered with ASL images and twelve vascular territories were manually drawn. Automated segmentation differentiated GM and WM for each vascular territory, and quantitative analysis of CBF was performed. CBF was elevated throughout the brain, consistent with previous studies in SCD patients. This study demonstrates that ASL combined with automated image segmentation is useful to investigate brain perfusion in a population known to be at risk for vascular events.