Longitudinal monitoring of cardiac siderosis using cardiovascular magnetic resonance T2* in patients with thalassemia major on various chelation regimens: A 6‐year study

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and hepatic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have become reliable noninvasive tools to monitor iron excess in thalassemia major (TM) patients. However, long‐term studies are lacking. We reviewed CMR and hepatic MRI T2* imaging on 54 TM patients who had three or more annual measurements. They were managed on various chelation regimens. Patients were grouped according to their degree of cardiac siderosis: severe (T2*, <10 msec), mild to moderate (T2* = 10–20 msec), and no cardiac siderosis (T2*, >20 msec). We looked at the change in cardiac T2*, liver iron concentration (LIC) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at years 3 and 5. In patients with severe cardiac siderosis, cardiac T2* (mean ± SD) improved from 6.9 ± 1.6 at baseline to 13.6 ± 10.0 by year 5, mean ΔT2* = 6.7 (P = 0.04). Change in cardiac T2* at year 3 was not significant in the severe group. Patients with mild to moderate cardiac siderosis had mean cardiac T2* of 14.6 ± 2.9 at baseline which improved to 26.3 ± 9.5 by year 3, mean ΔT2* = 11.7 (P = 0.01). At baseline, median LICs (mg/g dry weight) in patients with severe, mild–moderate, and no cardiac siderosis were 3.6, 2.8, and 3.3, whereas LVEFs (mean ± SD) (%) were 56.3 ± 10.1, 60 ± 5, and 66 ± 7.6, respectively. No significant correlation was noted between Δ cardiac T2* and Δ LIC, Δ cardiac T2*, and Δ LVEF at years 3 and 5. Throughout the observation period, patients with no cardiac siderosis maintained their cardiac T2* above 20 msec. The majority of patients with cardiac siderosis improve cardiac T2* over time with optimal chelation. Am. J. Hematol. 88:652–656, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.