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Relationships between MR transverse relaxation parameters R * 2 , R 2 and R ′ 2 and hepatic iron content in thalassemic mice at 1.5 T and 3 T
Author(s) -
Song Ruitian,
Lin Wei,
Chen Qiukan,
Asakura Toshio,
Wehrli Felix W.,
Song Hee Kwon
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
nmr in biomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.278
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1099-1492
pISSN - 0952-3480
DOI - 10.1002/nbm.1227
Subject(s) - relaxation (psychology) , nuclear magnetic resonance , content (measure theory) , chemistry , sampling (signal processing) , correlation , analytical chemistry (journal) , physics , mathematics , medicine , mathematical analysis , chromatography , detector , optics , geometry
Abstract Assessment of hepatic iron concentration is important in the management of patients with thalassemia. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationships between the three MR transverse relaxation rates, R 2 * , R 2 , and R 2 ′ , and hepatic iron content in a mouse model of thalassemia at 1.5 and 3 T field strengths. A GESFIDE (gradient‐echo sampling of free induction decay and echo) pulse sequence was used to measure the three parameters efficiently in a single scan in a study examining the livers of normal and thalassemic mice, including a subgroup of the latter that were subjected to periodic transfusions. The results showed that R 2 * , R 2 and R 2 ′all correlated closely with liver iron concentration at both 1.5 T and 3 T, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.72 to 0.79. High degrees of correlation ( r = 0.93–0.99) were also observed among the three MR parameters at both field strengths. It can be concluded that the three rates could all be effective for assessing hepatic iron concentration and that imaging at higher fields may not offer any advantages over that at lower fields. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.