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.