Measurement of the liver iron concentration in transfusional iron overload by MRI R2 and by high-transition-temperature superconducting magnetic susceptometry

To compare measurement of the liver iron concentration in patients with transfusional iron overload by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), using R2*, and by magnetic susceptometry, using a new high-transitiontemperature (high-Tc; operating at 77 K, cooled by liquid nitrogen) superconducting magnetic susceptometer. In 28 patients with transfusional iron overload, 43 measurements of the liver iron concentration were made by both R2* and high-Tc magnetic susceptometry. Measurements of the liver iron concentration by R2* and high-Tc magnetic susceptometry were significantly correlated when comparing all patients (Pearson's r = 0.91, p 7 mg Fe/g liver, dry weight (r = 0.93, p = 0.006). In lower ranges of liver iron, no significant correlations between the two methods were found (0 to