title: Hepatic Iron Quantification on 3 Tesla (3 T) Magnetic Resonance (MR): Technical Challenges and Solutions.
abstract: MR has become a reliable and noninvasive method of hepatic iron quantification. Currently, most of the hepatic iron quantification is performed on 1.5 T MR, and the biopsy measurements have been paired with R 2 and R 2* values for 1.5 T MR. As the use of 3 T MR scanners is steadily increasing in clinical practice, it has become important to evaluate the practicality of calculating iron burden at 3 T MR. Hepatic iron quantification on 3 T MR requires a better understanding of the process and more stringent technical considerations. The purpose of this work is to focus on the technical challenges in establishing a relationship between T 2* values at 1.5 T MR and 3 T MR for hepatic iron concentration (HIC) and to develop an appropriately optimized MR protocol for the evaluation of T 2* values in the liver at 3 T magnetic field strength. We studied 22 sickle cell patients using multiecho fast gradient-echo sequence (MFGRE) 3 T MR and compared the results with serum ferritin and liver biopsy results. Our study showed that the quantification of hepatic iron on 3 T MRI in sickle cell disease patients correlates well with clinical blood test results and biopsy results. 3 T MR liver iron quantification based on MFGRE can be used for hepatic iron quantification in transfused patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anwar
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Manwani
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Taragin
authors.forename: Suzette O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Oyeku
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Peng