Sickle cell disease painful crisis and steady state differentiation by proton magnetic resonance.

The delay time of the Hb S polymerization process was investigated in 63 patients with sickle cell disease during steady state and 10 during painful crisis starting from spin-spin proton magnetic resonance (PMR) time behavior measured at 36 degrees C and during spontaneous deoxygenation. We found a significant decrease of delay time as a result of the crisis (36 +/- 10%) and two well-differentiated ranges of values for each state: 273-354 min for steady state and 166-229 min for crisis with an uncertainty region of 15%. It is possible to use PMR as an objective and quantitative method in order to differentiate both clinical conditions of the sickle cell patient, but a more clear differentiation can be established comparing the delay time (td) value of one patient during crisis with his own td value during steady state.