MRI for Iron Overload in Thalassemia

MRI is a key tool in the current management of patients with thalassemia. Given its capability of assessing iron overload in different organs noninvasively and without contrast, it has significant advantages over other metrics, including serum ferritin. Liver iron concentration can be measured either with relaxometry methods T2*/I-2 or signal intensity ratio techniques. Myocardial iron can be assessed in the same examination through T2* imaging. In this article, the authors focus on showing how MRI evaluates iron in both organs and the clinical applications, as well as practical approaches to using this tool by clinicians taking care of patients with thalassemia.