• Alessia Pepe, Vincenzo Positano, Maria Filomena Santarelli, Fortunato Sorrentino, Eliana Cracolici, Daniele De Marchi, Aurelio Maggio, Massimo Midiri, Luigi Landini, and Massimo Lombardi.
• MRI Laboratory, Institute of Clinical Physiology, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pisa, Italy. alepepe@email.it
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2006 May 1; 23 (5): 662-8.

PurposeTo assess the tissue iron concentration of the left ventricle (LV) using a multislice, multiecho T2* MR technique and a segmental analysis.Materials And MethodsT2* multiecho MRI was performed in 53 thalassemia major patients. Three short-axis views of the LV were obtained and analyzed with custom-written software. The myocardium was automatically segmented into 12 segments. The T2* value on each segment as well as the global T2* value were calculated. Cine dynamic images were also obtained to evaluate biventricular function parameters by quantitative analysis.ResultsFor the T2* global value, the coefficient of variation (CoV) for intra-/interobserver and interstudy reproducibility was 3.9% (r = 0.98), 5.5% (r = 0.98), and 4.7% (r = 0.99) respectively. Three groups were identified based on analysis of myocardial T2*: homogeneous (21%), heterogeneous (38%), and no myocardial iron overload (41%). The mean serum ferritin, liver iron concentration, and urinary iron excretion were significantly different among the groups. We did not find significant differences among groups in biventricular function. There was a correlation between the global T2* value and the T2* value in the mid-ventricular septum (r = 0.95, P < 0.0001).ConclusionMultislice multiecho T2* MRI provides a noninvasive, fast, reproducible means of assessing myocardial iron distribution. The single measurement of mid-septal T2* correlated well with the global T2* value.Copyright 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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