Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Adult and Pediatric Porcine Model of Acute Volume Overload
Published on: January 12, 2024
Brain volume in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease: evidence of volumetric growth delay?
R Grant Steen1, Temitope Emudianughe, Michael Hunte
1Department of Radiological Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. Grant_Steen@med.unc.edu
Insights
Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) show delayed gray matter brain growth. This finding in pediatric patients suggests potential neurodevelopmental impacts of SCD.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Pediatrics
- Radiology
Background:
- Sickle cell disease (SCD) is known to affect somatic growth.
- The impact of SCD on brain volumetric growth remains largely uncharacterized.
- Existing research has not adequately explored neurodevelopmental aspects in pediatric SCD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that children with SCD experience delayed brain volumetric growth compared to healthy peers.
- To assess the specific effects of SCD on different brain tissue volumes.
- To understand the relationship between SCD and brain development in children.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study comparing 83 children with SCD and 43 healthy controls.
- Brain volumes were quantified using segmented MR imaging data (T1, T2, and proton density-weighted images).
- Linear models analyzed group (patient vs. control) and age effects on brain volumes.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in total brain volume was observed between SCD patients and controls at 9.5 years.
- Children with SCD exhibited a significant deficit in gray matter volume (P=.005).
- Gray matter volume in SCD patients did not change with age, unlike in healthy controls where it decreased, likely due to myelination.
Conclusions:
- Volumetric growth of gray matter in the brain may be delayed in children with sickle cell disease.
- These findings suggest potential neurodevelopmental consequences associated with SCD in pediatric populations.
- Further research is warranted to explore the long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with SCD.
Background And Purpose:
Despite the large body of data available about somatic growth delay in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), virtually nothing is known about the effect of the disease on volumetric growth of the brain. This study was designed to test a hypothesis that children with SCD have a disease-related delay in brain volumetric growth compared with healthy children.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study design was used to evaluate 83 children with SCD and 43 age-similar healthy children, including 27 patient siblings. Brain volume was measured by segmenting and classifying MR imaging data, by using at least three separate image sets (T1-, T2-, and proton density-weighted MR images). A linear model was used to compare the various brain volumes with the covariates of group (patient versus control) and age, with age treated as a continuous variable.
Results:
With age controlled for, no significant difference was noted in total brain volume between patients and control subjects at age 9.5 years. However, patients showed a deficit specifically in gray matter volume (P=.005), without significant differences in white matter or ventricular volume. The deficit in patient gray matter was greater in central gray matter (P <.005) than in cortical gray matter (P <.02). In healthy control subjects, gray matter volume decreased significantly with age (P <.005), probably due to myelination of white matter tracts. In patients with SCD, gray matter volume did not change with age.
Conclusion:
Volumetric growth of brain gray matter may be delayed in children with SCD, suggesting that there may be neurodevelopmental consequences of this disease.
