Wesley Calvin Chan1, Faisel Budhani1,
Zahra Tejani1, Christine Massey2, Masoom A. Haider1
1Joint Department of Medical Imaging,
University Health Network, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto,
Toronto, ON, Canada; 2Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Princess
Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto,
ON, Canada
Monitoring
hepatic iron concentration is an important clinical concern in thalassemia
patients. The aim of this study is to demonstrate a correlation between R2*
relaxation rate and liver iron concentration determined by the FDA approved
Ferriscan method. We found a very
strong linear correlation between R2* values and Ferriscan determined liver
iron concentration with the Spearman correlation = 0.976 (95% CI: 0.963,
0.984). The prediction equation from
regression analysis was ([Fe])=0.80(R2*)-44.1(r=0.968, r2 = 0.937, p <
0.0001). Determination of liver iron concentration by R2* methods may be
helpful as a diagnostic surrogate for Ferriscan iron measurements.