RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Patients with hemoglobinopathy are prone to cerebrovascular event. Our aim was to screen the peak systolic flow velocity (PSV) using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) in terms of cerebrovascular event risk in patients with beta thalassemia (ß-thal) and sickle cell anemia (SCA). METHODS: PSV and resistive index (RI) values were determined at internal carotid artery (ICA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA)-from both temporal regions using TCD. RESULTS: A total of 55 participants (40 patients and 15 healthy people) were included in the study. Thirty-three (60%) of the participants were female. Among 40 patients, 12 patients (30%) had NTDT, 14 patients (35%) had SCA, and 14 patients (35%) had TDT diagnosis. Bilateral ICA and MCA were open in all patients and had a normal flow pattern. PSV and RI were not significantly different between study and control groups in right and left MCA and ICA. Patients with high platelet level (>450.000/mm3) had significantly higher PSV values in right MCA (96 vs.70 cm/s, p=0.05). Among patients with TDT, age of starting iron chelation and right ICA PSV values was significantly negatively correlated (r=-0.56; p=0.04). Clinical symptoms (headache and pain crisis), hydroxyurea, and chelation therapy did not effect PSV values. CONCLUSION: Platelet level and age of starting iron chelation might be an influencing factor for PSV. Regular follow-up of patients, appropriate therapy and lack of other factors causing cerebrovascular events might be possible reason for these acceptable results.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between age, sex, height, weight and body mass index (BMI) by measuring the subglottic diameter of the trachea (SDT) and its distance to the skin by ultrasonography (US) in children. METHODS: This prospective study included a total of 234 children, 104 girls and 134 boys, with ages ranging from 3 to 17 years. Demographic data including sex, age, height, weight and BMI were recorded. The SDT and its distance to the skin was measured with a 14L5 high-frequency surface transducer. The correlation of SDT and its distance to the skin with basic descriptive data was investigated. Statistical analyses used were Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman correlation tests. RESULTS: No significant difference was found among the median SDT and distance of the trachea from the skin values for boys (10.85 mm) and girls (11.15 mm) (p = 0.58). The distance of the trachea from the skin was greater in girls (5.5 mm) than in boys (4.75 mm) (p = 0.009). Median SDT values were 9.4 mm, 11.2 mm, and 13.35 mm in age groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. There were highly significant strong positive correlations between SDT with age (p = 0.001, r = 0.78), height (p = 0.001, r = 0.76), and weight (p = 0.001, r = 0.70), and a highly significant moderate positive correlation between SDT with BMI (p = 0.001, r = 0.43). Median distance values of the trachea from the skin were 4.6 mm, 5.2 mm, and 6.2 mm in age groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. There were moderate positive correlations between distance of the trachea from the skin with age (p = 0.001, r = 0.41), height (p = 0.001, r = 0.42), weight (p = 0.001, r = 0.53), and BMI (p = 0.001, r = 0.54). CONCLUSION: US is an accurate, safe, inexpensive, non-invasive and accessible method for objective evaluation of SDT and its distance to the skin. There is a positive correlation between age, height, weight, and BMI with SDT and its distance to the skin in healthy children.