TRANSFUSIONAL HEMOSIDEROSIS IN SICKLE-CELL-ANEMIA - ANOTHER CAUSE OF AN ECHOGENIC PANCREAS

We report four sickle cell anemia patients who have received multiple blood transfusions and have been non-compliant on Desferal chelation t herapy. Abdominal ultrasonography demonstrated an echogenic pancreas i n all four patients. Magnetic resonance imaging in three patients reve aled decreased signal intensity in all sequences in the pancreas and l iver. All four patients had marked iron deposition on liver biopsy. To our knowledge, increased echogenicity of the pancreas secondary to he mosiderosis (2-degrees hemochromatosis) in sickle cell patients has no t been reported in the radiologic literature.