title: Correlation between Heart, Liver and Pancreas Hemosiderosis Measured by MRI T2* among Thalassemia Major Patients from Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Major thalassemia patients need lifelong transfusions. The consequence of these repeated transfusions is iron accumulation in different organs. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation between heart, liver and pancreas hemosiderosis in thalassemic patients from Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted on 164 major thalassemia patients at Zafar Adult Thalassemia Center, a referral thalassemia center in Tehran, Iran, from May to November 2014.  All patients were on regular blood transfusion at 2-4 week intervals to keep their hemoglobin at a level of 7-9 gr/dL before each transfusion. Demographic data were gathered from patients' history. MRI T2* of liver, heart and pancreas were performed for all patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were a moderate correlation between pancreatic T2* and cardiac T2* relaxation times (r = 0.42, P < 0.001), a moderate correlation between T2* of pancreas and liver (r = 0.41, P < 0.001), and a weak correlation between T2* relaxation times of heart and liver (r = 0.31, P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Poor correlation between liver and heart, as well as a weak to moderate correlation between pancreas and liver T2* relaxation times indicate that relying on liver MRI T2* to predict the exact condition of pancreas or heart iron overload might not be a reliable approach in thalassemia major patients. Our findings suggest the advantage of using pancreas and heart MRI T2* as a non-invasive method for estimation of iron overload instead of relying on liver MRI T2*.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization, Thalassemia Clinic, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Azita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azarkeivan
authors.affiliation: Imam Hossein Medical Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mozhgan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashemieh
authors.affiliation: Pardis Noor Imaging Center, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Afshan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shirkavand
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research and Development Center, Imam Hossein Medical Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Kourosh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sheibani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006486:Hemosiderosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000378:metabolism*; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D055815:Young Adult; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D007501:Iron