Pancreatic Iron and Glucidic Metabolism in Thalassemia Major

Background. A preliminary study involving 59 patients demonstrated that pancreatic iron assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was the strongest overall predictor of glucose dysregulation in thalassemia major (TM) patients. Aim. In the present multicenter study we explored systematically the link between pancreatic iron and glucidic metabolism in a large cohort of TM patients. Methods. We considered 705 TM patients (372 F, mean age 37.00±9.95 years) enrolled in the E-MIOT (Extension-Myocardial Iron Overload in Thalassemia) project. T2* measurements were performed over pancreatic head, body and tail and global value was the mean. The pattern of disturbances of glucose metabolism was assessed by means of the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Results. According to OGTT results, 546 patients (77.4%) had normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 14 (2.0%) had isolated impaired fasting glucose (IFG), 29 (4.1%) had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and 116 (16.5%) had diabetes mellitus (DM). None of the 85 patients (12.1%) without pancreatic iron overload (global pancreas T2*≥26 ms) had IGT or DM (Figure 1). The 84.6% of patients with NGT had pancreatic iron overload. The global pancreatic T2* values were significantly higher in patients with NGT than in patients with DM (13.58±11.08 ms versus 8.09±4.72 ms, P