Hepatic Iron Quantification on 3 Tesla (3 T)‎ Magnetic Resonance (MR)‎ : Technical Challenges and Solutions

Abstract EN

MR has become a reliable and noninvasive method of hepatic iron quantification.

Currently, most of the hepatic iron quantification is performed on 1.5 T MR, and the biopsy measurements have been paired with R2 and R2* values for 1.5 T MR.

As the use of 3 T MR scanners is steadily increasing in clinical practice, it has become important to evaluate the practicality of calculating iron burden at 3 T MR.

Hepatic iron quantification on 3 T MR requires a better understanding of the process and more stringent technical considerations.

The purpose of this work is to focus on the technical challenges in establishing a relationship between T2* values at 1.5 T MR and 3 T MR for hepatic iron concentration (HIC) and to develop an appropriately optimized MR protocol for the evaluation of T2* values in the liver at 3 T magnetic field strength.

We studied 22 sickle cell patients using multiecho fast gradient-echo sequence (MFGRE) 3 T MR and compared the results with serum ferritin and liver biopsy results.

Our study showed that the quantification of hepatic iron on 3 T MRI in sickle cell disease patients correlates well with clinical blood test results and biopsy results.

3 T MR liver iron quantification based on MFGRE can be used for hepatic iron quantification in transfused patients.