Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Diego Hernando, Rachel J. Cook, Naila Qazi, Colin A. Longhurst, Carol A. Diamond, Scott B. Reeder
Summary: The study evaluated the performance and reproducibility of complex confounder-corrected R2* across different acquisition protocols at both 1.5 T and 3.0 T. The results showed that R2* demonstrated high reproducibility across different acquisition protocols and field strengths, with high predictive ability for clinically relevant LIC thresholds.
EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Feng Lu, Yan-Jun Zhao, Jian-Ming Ni, Yu Jiang, Fang-Ming Chen, Zhong-Juan Wang, Zhui-Yang Zhang
Summary: This study assessed the predictive value of the combination of bone marrow PDFF and liver R2* for osteopenia and osteoporosis, as well as the additional role of liver R2*. The results demonstrate the potential of liver R2* as a biomarker for osteopenia and osteoporosis in healthy women.
EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Alessia Pepe, Laura Pistoia, Maria Rita Gamberini, Liana Cuccia, Roberto Lisi, Valerio Cecinati, Aurelio Maggio, Francesco Sorrentino, Aldo Filosa, Rosamaria Rosso, Giuseppe Messina, Massimiliano Missere, Riccardo Righi, Stefania Renne, Antonino Vallone, Stefano Dalmiani, Vincenzo Positano, Massimo Midiri, Antonella Meloni
Summary: The tailored chelation therapy guided by MRI in the MIOT network has shown significant improvement in the prognosis of TM patients. Continuous monitoring of cardiac iron levels and personalized treatment can reduce cardiac burden, improve cardiac function, and reduce complications and death from heart failure related to myocardial iron overload.
EUROPEAN HEART JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Antonella Meloni, Laura Pistoia, Vincenzo Positano, Antonio De Luca, Nicola Martini, Anna Spasiano, Ilaria Fotzi, Pier Paolo Bitti, Domenico Visceglie, Gianna Alberini, Gianfranco Sinagra, Alessia Pepe, Filippo Cademartiri
Summary: This study evaluated the association between myocardial extracellular volume (ECV) and demographics, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) findings, and cardiac involvement in patients with thalassemia major. The results showed that increased ECV was associated with myocardial iron overload and heart failure, potentially indicating diffuse interstitial fibrosis.
EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Gerard M. Healy, Stephan A. R. Kannengiesser, Osvaldo Espin-Garcia, Richard Ward, Kevin H. M. Kuo, Kartik S. Jhaveri
Summary: Inline R-2*-LIC provides robust and comparable quantification of LIC compared to FerriScan, without the need for offline post-processing.
EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Fengming Xu, Chaotian Luo, Meicheng Li, Kaiming Guan, Fei Peng, Gaohui Yang, Peng Peng
Summary: This study aimed to explore the feasibility, reproducibility, and reliability of using T2* values in quantifying cardiac iron load in patients with thalassemia at 3 T MRI. The results showed that T2* quantification at 3 T MRI was feasible, reproducible, and reliable.
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Anna Pecorelli, Paola Franceschi, Lorenzo Braccischi, Federica Izzo, Matteo Renzulli, Rita Golfieri
Summary: Liver iron overload refers to the abnormal accumulation of iron in the liver, which can cause inflammation and cell damage, leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. MRI is currently the best non-invasive method to detect and quantify liver iron overload, but the superparamagnetic properties of iron can make it challenging to differentiate between different liver lesions.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Suyon Chang, Jinho Park, Young-Joong Yang, Kyongmin Sarah Beck, Pan Ki Kim, Byoung Wook Choi, Jung Im Jung
Summary: This study aimed to determine the conversion equations between different scanners using a phantom and evaluate the feasibility of the phantom-based conversion method. The results demonstrated that a site-specific equation derived from a phantom can be used to estimate T2* values at 1.5T in centers where only 3T scanners are available.
JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEVELOPMENT AND DISEASE
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Antonella Meloni, Laura Pistoia, Maria Rita Gamberini, Liana Cuccia, Roberto Lisi, Valerio Cecinati, Paolo Ricchi, Calogera Gerardi, Gennaro Restaino, Riccardo Righi, Vincenzo Positano, Filippo Cademartiri
Summary: We evaluated the prognostic value of multiparametric cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in predicting death from heart failure in patients with thalassemia major (TM). Iron overload, ventricular dysfunction, ventricular dilation, and replacement myocardial fibrosis were identified as significant predictors of heart failure death. Patients with all four markers had a significantly higher risk of dying from heart failure compared to patients without markers or with one to three markers.
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Ana Jimenez-Pastor, Angel Alberich-Bayarri, Rafael Lopez-Gonzalez, David Marti-Aguado, Manuela Franca, Rodrigo San Martin Bachmann, Juan Mazzucco, Luis Marti-Bonmati
Summary: The study successfully demonstrated the accurate segmentation of liver parenchyma using CNN, with excellent performance and high correlation in both internal and external validation datasets, showcasing reproducible results with relative errors below 4% for PDFF and 1% for R2*.
EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Qi Liu, Liming Xu, Guangming Ren, Jingzhuang Zhao, Yizhi Shao, Tongyan Lu
Summary: In the past decades, Txnrd3 has been found to be highly expressed in testis and involved in sperm maturation, but its role in liver diseases remains unclear. Iron is essential for humans and animals, but its overload can cause damage to various organs. The relationship between Txnrd3, iron, and cirrhosis is still not fully understood.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Anna Spasiano, Antonella Meloni, Silvia Costantini, Emilio Quaia, Filippo Cademartiri, Patrizia Cinque, Alessia Pepe, Paolo Ricchi
Summary: The study indicates that a serum ferritin level <500 ng/mL is achievable and safe for certain TDT patients. This target is associated with the absence of significant cardiac iron overload, significantly lower hepatic IO, and triglycerides, both of which are well-demonstrated markers for cardiac and liver complications.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Christina Fragodimitri, Vasiliki Schiza, Anastasios Giakoumis, Kalliopi Drakaki, Anastasia Salichou, Fotis Karampatsos, Jacqueline Yousef, Markissia Karageorga, Vasili Berdoukas, Athanasios Aessopos
Summary: This study analyzed the benefits of the revolution in the management of beta-thalassemia major. The results showed that chelation therapy significantly optimized the indices and increased the proportion of patients with chelation success. Continuous magnetic resonance imaging and prolonged intensified chelation therapy can help patients achieve clearance of cardiac and liver iron load and reduce mortality.
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Eamon K. Doyle, Samuel Thornton, Kristin A. Toy, Andrew J. Powell, John C. Wood
Summary: CPMG spin echo acquisitions are attractive for diagnosing and monitoring liver iron concentration in iron overload disorders due to their time efficiency. Including a proton density estimator derived from the CPMG acquisition increases the sensitivity of CPMG R-2 estimates to liver iron concentration. This could potentially improve clinical diagnosis and monitoring of iron overload disorders.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Antonella Meloni, Luigi Barbuto, Vincenzo Positano, Laura Pistoia, Anna Spasiano, Tommaso Casini, Francesco Massei, Crocetta Argento, Piera Giovangrossi, Angelica Barone, Luigia Romano, Filippo Cademartiri
Summary: We evaluated the pattern and clinical correlates of renal T2* measurements in adult β-thalassemia major (β-TM) patients. A total of 11.1% of β-TM patients showed renal iron overload, which was associated with liver iron concentration (LIC) values and pancreas T2* values. Renal iron overload was more common in patients with cardiac iron overload. MRI LIC and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were strong predictors of global kidney T2* values. An MRI LIC > 4.83 mg/g dw predicted the presence of renal iron overload.
CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Vincenzo Positano, Antonella Meloni, Maria Filomena Santarelli, Laura Pistoia, Anna Spasiano, Liana Cuccia, Tommaso Casini, Maria Rita Gamberini, Massimo Allo, Pier Paolo Bitti, Alessia Pepe, Filippo Cademartiri
Summary: This study developed a deep-learning method for unsupervised classification of liver iron content (LIC) from TEE multiecho MR images. The results showed that the HippoNet-Ensemble network achieved higher accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in LIC staging compared to other networks.
JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
(2023)
Article
Hematology
Antonella Meloni, Laura Pistoia, Alessandra Quota, Giuseppe Messina, Paolo Ricchi, Sergio Bagnato, Calogera Gerardi, Roberto Lisi, Liana Cuccia, Stefania Renne, Antonino Vallone, Riccardo Righi, Vincenzo Positano, Alessia Pepe, Filippo Cademartiri
Summary: The aim of this multicenter study was to assess the predictive value of multiparametric cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) for cardiovascular complications in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and increased right ventricular mass index showed a significant prognostic value in patients with SCD.
ANNALS OF HEMATOLOGY
(2023)
Letter
Hematology
Antonella Meloni, Laura Pistoia, Paolo Ricchi, Massimo Allo, Rosamaria Rosso, Liana Cuccia, Tommaso Casini, Valerio Cecinati, Marilena Serra, Vincenza Rossi, Riccardo Righi, Stefania Renne, Antonino Vallone, Vincenzo Positano, Filippo Cademartiri
Review
Hematology
Angela Vitrano, Khaled M. Musallam, Antonella Meloni, Mehran Karimi, Shahina Daar, Paolo Ricchi, Silvia Costantini, Efthymia Vlachaki, Vito Di Marco, Amal El-Beshlawy, Mahmoud Hajipour, Saqib Hussain Ansari, Aldo Filosa, Adriana Ceci, Sylvia Titi Singer, Zaki A. Naserullah, Alessia Pepe, Filippo Cademartiri, Sebastiano Addario Pollina, Salvatore Scondotto, Gabriella Dardanoni, Fedele Bonifazi, Vijay G. Sankaran, Elliott Vichinsky, Ali T. Taher, Aurelio Maggio
Summary: This study developed a prognostic scoring system to differentiate β-thalassemia patients based on their mortality risk and validated it in a separate dataset. The scoring system showed good predictive ability for mortality outcome, allowing for risk categorization and informing management decisions.
BLOOD CELLS MOLECULES AND DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Antonella Meloni, Laura Pistoia, Silvia Maffei, Paolo Ricchi, Tommaso Casini, Elisabetta Corigliano, Maria Caterina Putti, Liana Cuccia, Crocetta Argento, Vincenzo Positano, Alessia Pepe, Filippo Cademartiri, Cristina Vassalle
Summary: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and bone mineral density (BMD), vitamin D, and bone turnover biomarkers in multi-transfused patients with thalassemia major (TM). The results showed that HCV infection was positively associated with the prevalence of low bone mass, suggesting that HCV infection is an additive risk factor for low bone mass in TM patients. Osteocalcin may play a role in this association.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Antonella Meloni, Laura Pistoia, Maria Rita Gamberini, Liana Cuccia, Roberto Lisi, Valerio Cecinati, Paolo Ricchi, Calogera Gerardi, Gennaro Restaino, Riccardo Righi, Vincenzo Positano, Filippo Cademartiri
Summary: We evaluated the prognostic value of multiparametric cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in predicting death from heart failure in patients with thalassemia major (TM). Iron overload, ventricular dysfunction, ventricular dilation, and replacement myocardial fibrosis were identified as significant predictors of heart failure death. Patients with all four markers had a significantly higher risk of dying from heart failure compared to patients without markers or with one to three markers.
Letter
Hematology
Antonella Meloni, Laura Pistoia, Vincenzo Positano, Anna Spasiano, Maria Caterina Putti, Ilaria Fotzi, Elisabetta Corigliano, Antonella Cossu, Antonella Massa, Francesco Massei, Gianna Alberini, Filippo Cademartiri
BRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Andrea Barison, Roberto Ceolin, Alessandro Palmieri, Pietro Paolo Tamborrino, Giancarlo Todiere, Chrysanthos Grigoratos, Ignazio Alessio Gueli, Carmelo De Gori, Alberto Clemente, Laura Pistoia, Alessia Pepe, Giovanni Donato Aquaro, Vincenzo Positano, Michele Emdin, Filippo Cademartiri, Antonella Meloni, Michael Henein
Summary: This study derived reference values of left-ventricular (LV) and right-ventricular (RV) strain parameters using feature tracking cardiac magnetic resonance (FT-CMR) in a cohort of 100 healthy subjects. It found gender differences in LV and RV strain values, and a significant correlation between LV strain and LV ejection fraction, and between RV GLS and RV end-diastolic volume.
Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Antonella Meloni, Filippo Cademartiri, Vicenzo Positano, Simona Celi, Sergio Berti, Alberto Clemente, Ludovico La Grutta, Luca Saba, Eduardo Bossone, Carlo Cavaliere, Bruna Punzo, Erica Maffei
Summary: Photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) is an emerging technology that offers several advantages over conventional CT, including improved spatial resolution and signal behavior, reduced noise and artifacts, decreased radiation dose, and enhanced material discrimination. This review highlights the potential diagnostic capabilities of PCCT in cardiovascular applications, such as detection of coronary artery calcifications and evaluation of coronary plaque extent and composition.
JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEVELOPMENT AND DISEASE
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Simone Garzia, Martino Andrea Scarpolini, Marilena Mazzoli, Katia Capellini, Angelo Monteleone, Filippo Cademartiri, Vincenzo Positano, Simona Celi
Summary: This study proposes a pipeline for generating synthetic thoracic aorta phase contrast magnetic resonance angiography (PCMRA) to expand the limited dataset of patient-specific PCMRA MRA images, ultimately improving the accuracy of neural network segmentation. The results demonstrate that incorporating synthetic data into the training set significantly improves the segmentation performance compared to using only real data.
COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Antonella Meloni, Laura Pistoia, Vincenzo Positano, Antonio De Luca, Nicola Martini, Anna Spasiano, Ilaria Fotzi, Pier Paolo Bitti, Domenico Visceglie, Gianna Alberini, Gianfranco Sinagra, Alessia Pepe, Filippo Cademartiri
Summary: This study evaluated the association between myocardial extracellular volume (ECV) and demographics, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) findings, and cardiac involvement in patients with thalassemia major. The results showed that increased ECV was associated with myocardial iron overload and heart failure, potentially indicating diffuse interstitial fibrosis.
EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY
(2023)