Abstract #0081

Wang Z, Muthupillai R, Chu Z, Krishnamurthy R, Mahoney D, Mueller B, Fischer R, Chung T, McClain K

Iron overload in the heart is the leading cause of death for thalassemia patients receiving chronic transfusions. A method for measuring the cardiac iron concentration in patients has not been available in clinical practice. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of measuring the magnetic susceptibility of the left ventricle (LV) for patients with iron overload. We found that intercostal muscle was a reliable reference for epi-myocardial susceptibility. Furthermore, the blood inside LV can be used as reference for endo-myocardial susceptibility measurement. Results of the study suggest a strong correlation between 1/T2* and magnetic susceptibility of the LV.