Heart and liver R2 and R2* measurements in patients with thalassaemia major at 3T

Abstract

To determine the feasibility of measurements of transverse relaxation times for assessment of tissue iron overload at high field, we compared results of determinations of R2 and R2* using breathhold multi-echo spin-echo (MESE) and multi-echo gradient echo (MEGE) sequences, respectively, at 3T and at 1.5T in normal subjects and patients with thalassaemia major. Our results, the first reported measurements of R2 at both 3T and 1.5T in iron overloaded patients, demonstrate significant correlations in heart and liver at the two field strengths. These results provide evidence that myocardial and hepatic R2 can be measured at 3T as indicators of iron overload.