Magnetic resonance imaging of transfusional hemosiderosis complicating thalassemia major.

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Abstract
Tissue deposits of hemosiderin, a paramagnetic Fe-protein complex, resulted in marked abnormalities of magnetic resonance (MR) spin-echo signal intensity within the viscera of 3 children with transfusional hemosiderosis and thalassemia major. In all patients the liver and bone marrow demonstrated abnormally low spin-echo intensities and the kidneys and muscles had abnormally high intensities. These observations correlate with in vitro MR observations of Fe3+ solutions, in which concentrations of Fe2+ salts > 20 mmol yielded a low MR intensity signal and Fe3+ concentrations < 15 mmol yielded higher intensities than did H2O alone. MR imaging is sensitive to the tissue deposition of hemosiderin, and MR intensity appears to provide a rough measure of the amount of Fe deposited.