Reduction in overt and silent stroke recurrence rate following cerebral revascularization surgery in children with sickle cell disease and severe cerebral vasculopathy

Background Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and moyamoya may benefit from indirect cerebral revascularization surgery in addition to chronic blood transfusion therapy for infarct prevention. We sought to compare overt and silent infarct recurrence rates in children with SCD undergoing revascularization. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of all children with SCD and moyamoya treated at two children's hospitals. Clinical events and imaging studies were reviewed. Results Twenty-seven children with SCD and confirmed moyamoya receiving chronic transfusion therapy were identified, of whom 12 underwent indirect cerebral revascularization. Two subjects had postoperative transient ischemic attacks and another had a subarachnoid blood collection, none of which caused permanent consequences. Two subjects had surgical wound infections. Among these 12 children, the rate of overt and silent infarct recurrence decreased from 13.4 infarcts/100 patient-years before revascularization to 0 infarcts/100 patient-years after revascularization (P = 0.0057); the postrevascularization infarct recurrence rate was also significantly lower than the overall infarct recurrence of 8.87 infarcts/100 patient-years in 15 children without cerebral revascularization (P = 0.025). Conclusions The rate of overt and silent infarct recurrence was significantly lower following indirect cerebral revascularization. A prospective study of cerebral revascularization in children with SCD is needed.