R2* in the Normal Ageing Brain and Its Relation to Serum Iron

Lukas Pirpamer¹, Christian Langkammer¹, Stephan Seiler¹, Christian Enzinger¹, Franz Fazekas¹, Reinhold Schmidt¹, Stefan Ropele¹

R2* has been recently validated as a measure for brain iron. This study investigated the relationship between serum levels of iron and R2* in white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and deep gray matter structures. R2* mapping was done in 275 normal ageing subjects. R2* in deep gray matter was not related to serum level of iron or WMH severity. However, subjects suffering from hypertension and a high WMH score showed a significant correlation between lesional R2* and iron concentration in the serum thus underlining the role of microangiopathy in the development of WMH.