Reduced global cerebral oxygen metabolic rate in sickle cell disease and chronic anemias

Anemia is the most common blood disorder in the world. In patients with chronic anemia, such as sickle cell disease or major thalassemia, cerebral blood flow increases to compensate for decreased oxygen content. However, the effects of chronic anemia on oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO 2 ) are less well understood. In this study, we examined 47 sickle‐cell anemia subjects (age 21.7 ± 7.1, female 45%),...