Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: Iron-induced cardiac dysfunction is a leading cause of death in transfusion-dependent anemia. MRI relaxation rates R2(1/T2) and R2*(1/T2*) accurately predict liver iron concentration, but their ability to predict cardiac iron has been challenged by some investigators. Studies in animal models support similar R2 and R2* behavior with heart and liver iron, but human studies are lacking. To determine the relationship between MRI relaxivities and cardiac iron, regional variations in R2 and R2* were compared with iron distribution in one freshly deceased, unfixed, iron-loaded heart. R2 and R2* were proportionally related to regional iron concentrations and highly concordant with one another within the interventricular septum. A comparison of postmortem and in vitro measurements supports the notion that cardiac R2* should be assessed in the septum rather than the whole heart. These data, along with measurements from controls, provide bounds on MRI-iron calibration curves in human heart and further support the clinical use of cardiac MRI in iron-overload syndromes.
Source: Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
DOI: 10.1002/mrm.20981
Authors: Nilesh R. Ghugre, Cathleen M. Enriquez, Ignacio Gonzalez, Marvin D. Nelson, Thomas D. Coates, John C. Wood
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1979158789