Neurovascular Determinants of Cognitive Function in Adults With Sickle Cell Disease

Cognitive impairment is a poorly understood, serious, and emerging complication for adult patients with sickle cell disease. Because there is extensive microvascular damage from oxidative damage in sickle cell disease, the investigators hypothesize that this is also present in the cerebral microvasculature to cause cognitive impairment. The investigators plan to test this by correlating markers of inflammation and oxidative damage with cognitive performance and 7 Tesla brain MRI microvascular findings in these patients, with the long term goal of understanding the mechanisms and risk factors of cognitive impairment in sickle cell disease.