Neuroradiologic Findings in Sickle Cell Disease Excluding Moyamoya

The imaging manifestations of sickle cell disease are diverse and typically result from hypoxia, arterial wall damage, hemolysis, and repeated vasoocclusion with resultant ischemia, inflammation, and sometimes superimposed infection. We retrospectively reviewed all sickle cell disease cases from our teaching files and identified those with complications other than moyamoya, which formed the basis of this review. We were able to identify the following complications: spinal cord and vertebral infarctions, skull infarctions, extramedullary hematopoiesis, intraventricular and cerebral microhemorrhages, intracranial aneurysms, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, and extracranial carotid stenoses. We presented a review of the imaging findings related to these complications.

Learning Objective: Recognize relevant imaging features associated with sickle cell disease complications in the head, neck, and spine, other than moyamoya.