Diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease in sickle cell anemia by magnetic resonance angiography.

The study of blood flow by means of magnetic resonance techniques has led to a noninvasive magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) technique for imaging large cerebral vessels. Ten children with sickle cell hemoglobinopathy and a history of acute neurologic syndromes were studied with combined parenchymal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRA. Six had abnormal MRI findings and MRA-defined luminal lesions in the vascular distribution of these parenchymal infarctions. The three children with previous intraarterial angiography had MRA abnormalities that corresponded with vascular lesions on conventional angiograms. Four had normal MRI and MRA findings. We conclude that a combination of MRI and MRA provides a noninvasive screening test for large-vessel disease in this population.