FIG 1. Range of abnormalities shown by MR images of young patients with hemoglobin SS sickle cell disease.

A, T1-weighted MR image of a 4.3-year-old boy with bilateral lacunae in the centrum semiovale and paraventricular white matter. Image section is 3 cm thick. Image shows multiple lacunae, the largest of which is approximately 7 mm in diameter.

B, T1-weighted MR image of a 5.0-year-old girl with multiple small bilateral white matter lacunae in the centrum semiovale and the corona radiata. Image section is 3 cm thick. Image shows several lacunae, the largest of which is approximately 7 mm in diameter.

C, T1-weighted MR image of a 5.4-year-old boy with bilateral lacunar infarcts involving both frontal lobes and the centrum semiovale on both sides. Image section is 3 cm thick. Image shows two lacunae, the largest of which is approximately 6 mm in diameter.

D, Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery image of an 8.4-year-old boy with bilateral leukoencephalopathy in the centrum semiovale. Image section is 3 cm thick. Image shows abnormally high signal intensity. Because fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images null signal intensity from CSF, this is not a partial volume effect from the ventricle.