Impaired cerebrovascular reactivity in pediatric sickle cell disease using diffuse correlation spectroscopy

Kyle R Cowdrick; Mariam Akbar; Tisha Boodooram; LaBeausha H Harris; Shasha Bai; Rowan O Brothers; Michael Arrington; Seung Yup Lee; Kirsma Khemani; Beatrice Gee; Erin M Buckley

doi:10.1364/BOE.499274

Impaired cerebrovascular reactivity in pediatric sickle cell disease using diffuse correlation spectroscopy

Biomed Opt Express. 2023 Oct 10;14(11):5696-5708. doi: 10.1364/BOE.499274. eCollection 2023 Nov 1.

Authors

Kyle R Cowdrick¹, Mariam Akbar¹, Tisha Boodooram¹, LaBeausha H Harris¹, Shasha Bai², Rowan O Brothers¹, Michael Arrington¹, Seung Yup Lee³, Kirsma Khemani^{4

5}, Beatrice Gee^{4

5}, Erin M Buckley^{1

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 1760 Haygood Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
² Pediatric Biostatistics Core, Emory University School of Medicine, 1405 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kennesaw State University, 840 Polytechnic Lane, Marietta, GA 30060, USA.
⁴ Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, 2015 Uppergate Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
⁶ Children's Research Scholar, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, 2015 Uppergate Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

Abstract

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), defined as the ability of cerebral vasculature to dilate in response to a vasodilatory stimulus, is an integral mechanism in brain homeostasis that is thought to be impaired in sickle cell disease (SCD). This study used diffuse correlation spectroscopy and a simple breath-hold stimulus to quantify CVR non-invasively in a cohort of 12 children with SCD and 14 controls. Median [interquartile range] CVR was significantly decreased in SCD compared to controls (2.03 [1.31, 2.44] versus 3.49 [3.00, 4.11] %/mmHg, p = 0.028). These results suggest DCS may provide a feasible means to routinely monitor CVR impairments in pediatric SCD.

Grants and funding

R01 HL152322/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States