MRI Evaluation of Hepatic Iron Overload in Chronically Transfused P- Thalassemic Children

Abstract

Background: Iron overload results from the frequent blood transfusions required for patients with chronic hemolytic anemia, such as thalassemia. MRI has become a popular noninvasive method for evaluating iron overload in different tissues. The aim of study: was to evaluate the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in assessing hepatic iron overload in children who were receiving several transfusions and to establish a correlation between the findings and serum ferritin levels. Patients and Methods: 30 cases of multitransfused children with thalassemia were included in this cross-sectional investigation. Serum ferritin, a standard biomarker of iron overload, was compared to liver iron concentration (LIC), which was determined by MRI T2*. Results: Serum ferritin and LIC showed a strong positive correlation (r=0.575 and p<0.001). Furthermore, there was a strong negative correlation between LIC and T2* (r=-0.565 and p<0.001). However, there was no statistically significant association found between LIC and age, sex, splenectomy, or frequency of blood transfusions. Conclusions: Tissue iron concentration can be measured accurately, consistently, and non-invasively by MRI T2*. The management of tissue iron overload should be improved by the widespread use of this approach, enabling earlier chelation intensification