In vivo comparison of myocardial T1 with T2 and T2* in thalassaemia major.
OBJECTIVE
To compare myocardial T1 against T2 and T2* in patients with thalassemia major (TM) for myocardial iron characterization.


METHODS
A total of 106 TM patients (29 ± 10 years; 58 males) were studied on a 1.5 Tesla scanner using dedicated T1, T2*, and T2 relaxometry sequences. A single mid-ventricular short axis slice was acquired within a breath-hold.


RESULTS
In patients with myocardial iron overload (T2* < 20 ms; n = 52), there were linear correlations between T2 and T2* (r = 0.82; P = 0.0), and between T1 and T2* (r = 0.83; P = 0.0). In patients with no myocardial iron (n = 54), T2* values were scattered with no significant correlation against T2 or T1. For all patients (n = 106) there was a strong linear correlation (r = 0.93; P = 0.0) between myocardial T1 and T2.


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with iron overload, myocardial T2 and T1 are correlated with T2*. In patients with low or normal myocardial iron concentration, other factors become dominant in affecting T2* values as shown by scattered T2* data. Myocardial T1 correlates linearly with T2 measurements in all patients suggesting that these two relaxation parameters avoid extrinsic magnetic field inhomogeneity effects and may potentially provide improved myocardial tissue characterization.
School of Biomedical Engineering, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Yanqiu
Y
Feng
Taigang
T
He
John-Paul
JP
Carpenter
Andrew
A
Jabbour
Mohammed Harith
MH
Alam
Peter D
PD
Gatehouse
Andreas
A
Greiser
Daniel
D
Messroghli
David N
DN
Firmin
Dudley J
DJ
Pennell
D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*
MRI relaxometry; T1; T2; T2*; myocardium; tissue characterization