title: Value of Dual Energy Computed Tomography for detection of myocardial iron deposition in Thalassaemia patients: initial experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of our study was to compare the value of cardiac DECT (cDECT) for detection of myocardial iron deposition to T2*w cardiac MRI (cMRI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Nineteen patients with clinical history of Thalassaemia underwent T2*-weighted cardiac MRI (cMRI) with a 1.5 T MR scanner (MAGNETOM Symphony, Siemens Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany) and cardiac dual energy CT (cDECT) with a DSCT scanner (SOMATOM Definition, Siemens Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany) on the same day. HU values obtained from cDECT scans and T2*-values from cMRI were statistically correlated to calculate significance levels. Table times were measured for both cDECT and cMRI and compared. Patients were asked to grade their subjective comfort during the examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all patients cDECT scans were successfully acquired. HU values of septal muscle correlated strongly with T2*-values, whereas no correlation was found for paraspinal muscle. Table time was significantly shorter for cDECT compared to cMRI (mean: 3.7 min vs. 11.2 min) and subjective patient comfort was rated comfortable for cDECT and average to poor for cMRI. Mean radiation dose was 0.71 mSv.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  cDECT scans seem to be possible for evaluation of myocardial iron load in pediatric Thalassaemia patients.
authors.affiliation: Hacettepe University Medical School, Department of Radiology, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tuncay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hazirolan
authors.forename: Burcu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Akpinar
authors.forename: Sule
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Unal
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gümrük
authors.forename: Mithat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haliloglu
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alibek