El-Sayed H. Ibrahim1, Fauzia Rana2, Kevin Johnson1, Richard White1
1Department of Radiology, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, United States; 2Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, United States
Cardiac iron overload in sickle-cell disease (SCD) leads to heart-failure and death. This study investigates the potential role of 3.0T-MRI for assessing cardiac iron content by measuring R2*. R2* was measured in calibrated phantoms at 3.0T and 1.5T using optimized sequences. Myocardial R2* was measured in SCD patients at 3.0T,and results were compared to serum ferritin and hepatic R2*. The phantoms R2* at 3.0T were double those at 1.5T. R2* showed linear relationships with iron concentration. 3.0T-R2* was more sensitive than 1.5T in detecting low iron concentrations. Myocardial R2* had weak and good correlations with hepatic R2* and ferritin level,respectively.
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