T2* Measurement of the Pituitary with Susceptibility Artifact Compensation at 3T

Yoonho Nam¹, Eung Yeop Kim², Dong-Hyun Kim¹

Preclinical diagnosis of iron overload in the pituitary gland is important for chronically transfused patients with hemoglobinopathies such as thalassemia.1,2 T2* measurement is very sensitive for detecting iron deposition in several tissues3 but severe susceptibility artifact (due to sphenoid sinus) makes T2* measurement in the pituitary gland difficult. Instead, T2 measurement or T2*-weighted imaging have been used to assess iron deposition in the pituitary gland.1,2 In this study, we propose a T2* measurement method based on field map analysis and susceptibility artifact correction in the pituitary gland ultimately aimed at evaluating iron overload.