To investigate the composition of silent cerebral infarcts (SCI) in sickle cell anaemia (SCA), we compared the magnetic susceptibility (χ) and transverse relaxation rates (R2*) of segmented SCI lesions to normal appearing white matter (NAWM) in the contralateral hemisphere. In 37 SCA subjects and 8 healthy controls (HC), SCI lesions were significantly less diamagnetic and had significantly lower R2* relative to NAWM. The χ and R2* changes indicate demyelination within the lesions. R2* mapping suggests that SCI lesions are more demyelinated in the SCA subjects, relative to HC, likely due to the haemodynamic challenges associated with the condition.
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