Non-invasive myocardial iron assessment in thalassaemic patients - T2 relaxometry and magnetization transfer ratio measurements

Purpose: To compare T2 relaxometry and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) m easurements of myocardial tissue in normal volunteers and thalassaemic pati ents for assessment of the myocardial iron levels. Material and Methods: All examinations were done on a 1 T MR system using a multi-echo spin-echo sequence with 8 echoes for T2 measurements and a grad ient echo sequence for MTR measurements. Diastolic cardiac triggering was u sed in both sequences. Ten patients and 10 normal subjects were included in the study. T2 and MTR measurements were correlated with serum ferritin lev els. Results: Regression analysis between T2 and MTR measurements and ferritin d emonstrated a reversed linear relationship, (r=-0.932, p<0.05) and (r = -0. 824, p<0.05), respectively. Mean T2, relaxation time and mean MTR of the no rmal subjects (57.95+/-4.9 ms and 43.70+/-3.3%) was significantly higher th an that of the thalassaemic patients (38.8+/-6.2 ms and 26.40+/-6.1%) (p<0. 01), respectively. Conclusion: MTR measurements can be used to complement T2 measurements for non-invasive myocardial iron assessment.