Participants
Participants included 61 patients stratified among three age groups,
with 27 patients between 6 and 7 years of age, 23 patients between 11
and 12 years of age, and 11 patients between 15 and 16 years of age. One
family declined participation in the screening protocol, two patients
were seen for the clinical screener but declined research participation,
and two more patients were seen for the screener having but did not have
a legal guardian present to consent for research participation. Sixteen
patients did not show for their scheduled screener appointment and 11
cancelled without rescheduling prior to this analysis. Patients with a
history of overt stroke were excluded from this analysis as they were
directly referred to neuropsychology; there were five participants with
a verified history of silent stroke but none with recent abnormal or
conditional TCD results. There was a slight overrepresentation of
females (62%). Most patients had hemoglobin SS disease (64%) or
hemoglobin SC disease (23%). Most patients were prescribed hydroxyurea
(n = 40); while nine were undergoing chronic transfusions due to silent
stroke history (n = 5), pain (n = 3), and priapism (n = 1). Most
patients attended public schools (75%), 30% had an IEP, and 36% had a
504 Plan. For complete demographic information, see Table 1.