Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng1, 2, Stephanie Holowka3, Rahim Moineddin4, Isaac Odame5
1Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; 2Physiology & Experimental Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; 3Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children; 4Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto; 5Haematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children
A rapid T2*-based method for liver iron measurement is desirable, particularly in children to avoid sedation. Although liver iron concentration equations based on T2* have been calibrated, there has been little independent validation in a clinical setting. In our ongoing study of pediatric patients with liver iron overload, we assess the accuracy and reproducibility of the T2* method and use FerriScan, a T2-based service that has regulatory approval, as our reference standard for liver iron measurement. Our results in 99 patients to date show high accuracy and reproducibility of our T2*-based technique for absolute liver iron quantification.