Daniel Kim1, Jens H. Jensen1, Christina L. Tosti2, Ed X. Wu3, Sujit S. Sheth4, Truman R. Brown5, Gary M. Brittenham4
1Center for Biomedical Imaging and Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; 2Bioengineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; 3Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong; 4Pediatrics and Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA; 5Radiology and Bioengineering, University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
Accurate assessment of iron burden is crucial for the management of iron-chelation therapy. MRI provides a means to non-invasively assess tissue iron concentration by exploiting the paramagnetic effects of iron on the relaxation rates of solvent protons. The most widely used method is R2* imaging, which has been shown to be sensitive to myocardial iron overload. Recently, a breath-hold fast spin echo sequence has been proposed for fast and accurate imaging of myocardial and hepatic R2. The purpose of this study was to determine which relaxation rates are sensitive to iron-chelation therapy.