Single region of interest versus multislice T2* MRI approach for the quantification of hepatic iron overload.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of the single ROI approach for the detection of hepatic iron burden in thalassemia major (TM) patients in respect to a whole liver measurement.

Materials And Methods: Five transverse hepatic slices were acquired by a T2* gradient-echo sequence in 101 TM patients and 20 healthy subjects. The T2* value was calculated in a single region of interest (ROI) defined in the medium-hepatic slice.

Cardiac iron and cardiac disease in males and females with transfusion-dependent thalassemia major: a T2* magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: It has been repeatedly reported that female patients with thalassemia major survive longer than males and that the difference is due to a lower rate of cardiac disease in females.

Design And Methods: We compared the cardiac iron load as measured by T2* magnetic resonance imaging in 776 patients (370 males) examined at the National Research Council as part of an Italian cooperative study. We also established normal left ventricular ejection fraction values for our population.

A critical review of non invasive procedures for the evaluation of body iron burden in thalassemia major patients.

It is evident that different non invasive methodologies have been implemented for the detection of organ specific iron burden in patients with thalassemia major. Among these MR relaxometry has the potential to become the method of choice for non-invasive, safe and accurate assessment of organ-specific iron load, although further theoretical research, along with studies monitoring wider age groups of patients, is needed. Moreover, the possibility of detecting organ-specific iron burden is relevant for tailoring specific chelation treatment in different patients or in the same patient during different periods of life.

Multislice multiecho T2* cardiac magnetic resonance for the detection of heterogeneous myocardial iron distribution in thalassaemia patients.

The present study investigated myocardial T2* heterogeneity in thalassaemia major (TM) patients by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), to determine whether is related to inhomogeneous iron overload distribution. A total of 230 TM patients consecutively referred to our laboratory were studied retrospectively. Three short-axis views (basal, medium and apical) of the left ventricle (LV) were obtained by multislice multiecho T2* CMR.

Improved T2* assessment in liver iron overload by magnetic resonance imaging.

In the clinical MRI practice, it is common to assess liver iron overload by T2* multi-echo gradient-echo images. However, there is no full consensus about the best image analysis approach for the T2* measurements. The currently used methods involve manual drawing of a region of interest (ROI) within MR images of the liver.

Left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy in children: Is segmental fibrosis the cause of tissue Doppler alterations and of EF reduction?

Noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium (LVNC) is a rare congenital cardiomyopathy resulting from an arrest in normal endomyocardial embryogenesis. In 2002 Jenni et al. [Jenni R, Wyss CA, Oechslin EN, Kaufmann PA.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance characterization of a hamartoma in an asymptomatic child.

Background: The prevalence of primary cardiac neoplasms is approximately 0.3% and these masses should be distinguished from many of other primary and secondary processes that can occur in the heart. Further assessment of the left ventricular mass presents important clinical implications.

Multislice multiecho T2* cardiovascular magnetic resonance for detection of the heterogeneous distribution of myocardial iron overload.

Purpose: To assess the tissue iron concentration of the left ventricle (LV) using a multislice, multiecho T2* MR technique and a segmental analysis.

Materials And Methods: T2* multiecho MRI was performed in 53 thalassemia major patients. Three short-axis views of the LV were obtained and analyzed with custom-written software.

Evaluation of the efficacy of oral deferiprone in beta-thalassemia major by multislice multiecho T2*.

Objectives: Oral deferiprone (L1) appears to be promising in the treatment of beta-thalassemia major (TM) patients. T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a single measurement in the mid-ventricular septum was validated as a quantitative evaluation of myocardial iron overload. Previous studies suggested a marked heterogeneity of iron distribution in the myocardium.