The genetic factors for stroke in children with sickle cell disease

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Whole Exome Sequencing of very young patients with sickle cell disease to investigate genetic factors that influence the occurrence of overt ischaemic stroke

  • IRAS ID

    216889

  • Contact name

    David Rees

  • Contact email

    david.rees2@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    King's College London

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 0 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    Children with sickle cell anaemia are at increased risk of developing strokes. The majority of strokes occur between 2 and 7 years of age with a high rate of recurrence after the first episode. There appears to be a familial predisposition to stroke, where a child with sickle cell anaemia has an increased risk of stroke if they have a sibling who has suffered an overt stroke. This suggests that there may be genetic risk factors. We aim to identify genetic modifiers of stroke risk by only recruiting children who have had a stroke, or a scan predicting that they are high risk of stroke, prior to the age of 4 years. We will be using a technique that sequences all the coding regions of the human genome each individual's entire genetic make up (whole exome sequencing) and comparing this to genetic information from children with sickle cell anaemia who have no clinical risk factors for stroke.

  • REC name

    South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    17/SC/0603

  • Date of REC Opinion

    23 Feb 2018

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion