Jin Yamamura1, Regine Grosse2,
Joachim Graessner3, Gritta Janka2, Gerhard Adam1,
Roland Fischer4,5
1Diagnostic &
Interventional Radiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf,
Hamburg, Germany; 2Pediatric Hematology & Oncology, University
Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; 3Siemens AG,
Hamburg, Germany; 4Department of Biochemistry & Molecular
Biology II: Molecular Cell Biology, University Medical Center
Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; 5Childrens Hospital &
Research Center Oakland, Oakland, CA, United States
Iron overload in the heart is the leading cause of death for thalassemia patients receiving chronic blood transfusions. The measurement of the septal R2* (= 1/T2*) in a mid-papillary short axis slice can be used for artifact-free cardiac iron measurements. The purpose of this study was to identify the variation of the transverse relaxation rate R2* in a left ventricular mid-papillary cardiac slice and to find out the most appropriate site to measure the cardiac iron with the least artifacts and boundary effects. The measurement of MRI-R2* in the interventricular septum is the least affected method by boundary effects to detect patients with iron overload at risk of developing heart failure.