title: R2* magnetic resonance imaging of the liver in patients with iron overload.
abstract: R2* magnetic resonance imaging (R2*-MRI) can quantify hepatic iron content (HIC) by noninvasive means but is not fully investigated. Patients with iron overload completed 1.5T R2*-MRI examination and liver biopsy within 30 days. Forty-three patients (sickle cell anemia, n = 32; beta-thalassemia major, n = 6; and bone marrow failure, n = 5) were analyzed: median age, 14 years, median transfusion duration, 15 months, average (+/-SD) serum ferritin 2718 plus or minus 1994 ng/mL, and average HIC 10.9 plus or minus 6.8 mg Fe/g dry weight liver. Regions of interest were drawn and analyzed by 3 independent reviewers with excellent agreement of their measurements (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.98). Ferritin and R2*-MRI were weakly but significantly associated (range of correlation coefficients among the 3 reviewers, 0.41-0.48; all P < .01). R2*-MRI was strongly associated with HIC for all 3 reviewers (correlation coefficients, 0.96-0.98; all P < .001). This high correlation confirms prior reports, calibrates R2*-MRI measurements, and suggests its clinical utility for predicting HIC using R2*-MRI. This study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00675038.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Hematology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105-3678, USA. jane.hankins@stjude.org
authors.forename: Jane S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hankins
authors.forename: M Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: McCarville
authors.forename: Ralf B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Loeffler
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Smeltzer
authors.forename: Mihaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onciu
authors.forename: Fredric A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Hoffer
authors.forename: Chin-Shang
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Winfred C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Russell E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ware
authors.forename: Claudia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hillenbrand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D002138:Calibration; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005293:Ferritins