Abstract #2953

Quantitative T2* MRI for Kidneys Iron Overload Assessment in a Large Cohort of Thalassemia Major Patients.

Antonella Meloni¹, Daniele De Marchi¹, Vincenzo Positano¹, Maria Chiara Dell'Amico¹, Brunella Favilli¹, Petra Keilberg¹, Chiara Tudisca², Gianluca Valeri³, Massimiliano Missere⁴, Angelo Zuccarelli⁵, Massimo Lombardi¹, Alessia Pepe¹

¹Fondazione G.Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana & Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa, Italy; ²Policlinico Paolo Giaccone, Palermo, Italy; ³Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti "Umberto I-Lancisi-Salesi", Ancona, Italy; ⁴Universit Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Campobasso, Italy; ⁵Ospedale Civile, Olbia, Italy

Multiecho T2* MRI allows organ-specific iron overload assessment. There very few report concerning the kidneys. We studied 119 Talassemia Major patients. Systemic T2* differences between left and right kidneys were found, with significant lower values in the right one. Mean T2* value over both kidneys increased with age and did not show a significant difference amongst men ad women. Iron deposition in the kidneys was not very common in TM (36% of the patient population), but it was correlated with iron deposition in other organs (liver and heart)