| Affiliation: | 1. MRI Laboratory, “G Monasterio” Foundation and Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa, Italy;2. Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa, Italy;3. Department of Radiology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy;4. Department of Radiology, “G Garibaldi” Hospital, Catania, Italy;5. Department of Radiology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy;6. Department of Radiology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Campobasso, Italy;7. Department of Radiology, University of Marche, Ancona, Italy;8. Department of Thalassemia, POU “S. Luigi‐Currò”, Catania, Italy;9. Department of Microcitemia, “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” Hospital, San Giovanni Rotondo(FG), Italy;10. Department of Thalassemia, “Sant'Eugenio Papa” Hospital, Roma, Italy;11. Department of Thalassemia, “S.Anna” Hospital, Ferrara, Italy;12. Haematology II with Thalassemia, “V. Cervello” Hospital, Palermo, Italy |
| Abstract: | Purpose To assess the transferability of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) multislice multiecho T2* technique for global and segmental measurement of iron overload in thalassemia patients. Materials and Methods Multiecho T2* sequences were installed on six MRI scanners. Five healthy subjects (n = 30) were scanned at each site; five thalassemia major (TM) patients were scanned at the reference site and were rescanned locally (n = 25) within 1 month. T2* images were analyzed using previously validated software. Results T2* values of healthy subjects showed intersite homogeneity. On TM patients, for global heart T2* values the correlation coefficient was 0.97, coefficients of variation (CoVs) ranged from 0.04–0.12, and intraclass coefficients (ICCs) ranged from 0.94–0.99. The mean CoV and ICC for segmental T2* distribution were 0.198 and 88, respectively. Conclusion The multislice multiecho T2* technique is transferable among scanners with good reproducibility. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;30:62–68. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. |
