Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2007

Mentor: Charles Quinn, M.D.
Department: Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Room number: G3.232
Mail Code: 9063
Phone number: 214-648-3896
E-mail: charles.quinn@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: Does diurnal hemoglobin desaturation predict overt stroke in children with sickle cell disease? An analysis of the Dallas Newborn Cohort.

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): 0302-173

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): N/A

Project Type: Patient-based research

Brief Description of Project:
Sickle cell anemia (Hgb SS) is the most common cause of stroke in children. Approximately 11% of children with Hgb SS will suffer a clinically overt stroke before their 18th birthday. There are few known risk factors for stroke in Hgb SS. Nocturnal oxygen saturation has been reported as a risk factor for CNS complications and painful events among individuals with Hgb SS (1,2). Nocturnal oxygen saturation is cumbersome to measure in the clinical setting. We routinely measure diurnal (daytime) oxygen saturation in our patients. It is not known whether diurnal oxygen saturation also predicts stroke. We will use the Dallas Newborn Cohort (3), a large cohort of children with sickle cell disease, to study this association. This project will build on prior studies (3,4). This project will have two components. The first is to update the cohort with new members and new follow-up. The second is to determine whether diurnal hemoglobin desaturation precedes and predicts stroke.

1. Hargrave DR, Wade A, Evans JP, Hewes DK, Kirkham FJ. Nocturnal oxygen saturation and painful sickle cell crises in children. Blood. 2003;101:846-848.
2. Kirkham FJ, Hewes DK, Prengler M, Wade A, Lane R, Evans JP. Nocturnal hypoxaemia and central-nervous-system events in sickle-cell disease. Lancet. 2001;357:1656-1659.
3. Quinn CT, Rogers ZR, and Buchanan GR. Survival of children with sickle cell disease. Blood, 103:4023-4027, 2004.
4. Quinn CT and Ahmad N. Clinical correlates of steady-state oxyhaemoglobin desaturation in children who have sickle cell disease. Br J Haematol, 131:129-134, 2005.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

2002 Angela Smith, medical student
Project: Burden of episodic transfusion in children with sickle cell anemia

2003 Chinelo Onuwekwusi, medical student
Project: Prognostic significance of early vaso-occlusive complications of sickle cell disease

2004 Yung-Ping Chin, medical student
Project: Prognostic significance of birth weight and red blood cell phenotype in sickle cell disease

2005 Nancy Lee, undergraduate student
Projects: Update of the Dallas Newborn Cohort; Validation of the CSSCD early prediction model

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