Hua Guo1,2, Wing-Yan Au3, Jerry S. Cheung1,2, Jens H. Jensen4, Daniel Kim4, Pek-Lan Khong5, Queenie Chan6, Christina Tosti7, Haiying Tang7, Truman R. Brown7, Wynnie W.M. Lam8, Shau-Yin Ha9, Gary M. Brittenham10, Ed X. Wu1,2
1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; 2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; 3Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 4Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA; 5Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 6Philips Electronics Hong Kong Limited; 7Radiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA; 8Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 9Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 10Department of Pediatrics and Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA
To determine the feasibility of measurements of transverse relaxation times for assessment of tissue iron overload at high field, we compared results of determinations of R2 and R2* using breathhold multi-echo spin-echo (MESE) and multi-echo gradient echo (MEGE) sequences, respectively, at 3T and at 1.5T in normal subjects and patients with thalassaemia major. Our results, the first reported measurements of R2 at both 3T and 1.5T in iron overloaded patients, demonstrate significant correlations in heart and liver at the two field strengths. These results provide evidence that myocardial and hepatic R2 can be measured at 3T as indicators of iron overload.