Abstract #0079

Gatehouse P, He T, Kirk P, Firmin D, Pennell D

A black blood sequence was developed and compared with a conventional bright blood one to evaluate the effectiveness and reproducibility of T2* analysis for iron overload measurement in thalassemia. Fifteen human subjects were imaged and T2* analysis was performed by two independent observers. The black blood T2* technique yielded high SNR images, provided well defined borders and avoided blood signal contamination to the myocardium. It shows reduced inter-observer variability and likely improved accuracy, which will allow for better characterization of the myocardium and facilitates its clinical application. This technique may have potential to study other disease requiring T2* analysis.