Visual cortex changes in children with sickle cell disease and normal visual acuity: a multimodal magnetic resonance imaging study.
Br J Haematol
; 192(1): 151-157, 2021 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32789861
ABSTRACT
The visual system is primarily affected in sickle cell disease (SCD), and eye examination is recommended starting in late childhood. So far, to our knowledge, all studies have focused on the retina, neglecting the changes that might be present in the cortical portion of the visual system. We performed a multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation of the visual cortex in 25 children with SCD (mean age 12·3 ± 1·9 years) and 31 controls (mean age 12·7 ± 1·6 years). At ophthalmologic examination, 3/25 SCD children had mild visual acuity deficits and 2/25 had mild tortuosity of the retinal vessels. None showed optic pathway infarcts at MRI or Transcranial Doppler abnormal blood velocities, and 6/25 disclosed posterior cerebral artery stenosis (five mild and one severe) at MR-angiography. Compared to controls, SCD children had increased posterior pericalcarine cortical thickness, with a different trajectory of cortical maturation and decreased connectivity within medial and ventral visual neural networks. Our findings suggest that SCD affects the development and the tuning of the visual cortex, leading to anatomical and functional changes in childhood even in the absence of retinopathy, and set the basis for future studies to determine if these changes can represent useful predictors of visual impairment in adulthood, biomarkers of disease progression or treatment response.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Córtex Visual
/
Anemia Falciforme
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
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Child
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Br J Haematol
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Itália