Quantification of myocardial iron overload by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging T2* and review of the literature.

Heart failure due to myocardial iron overload remains the leading cause of death in patients with transfusion-dependent anemias. Iron overload-induced cardiomyopathy is reversible if intensive chelation therapy is instituted on time. Thus, early detection of myocardial iron deposition is imperative to prevent overt heart failure. Conventional cardiac monitoring, including physical examination, electrocardiography, echocardiography or serum ferritin levels fail to predict manifest or subclinical myocardial involvement resulting from iron overload. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging T2* (cMRI-T2*, pronounced T2 star) times correlate well with myocardial iron levels. This timely review focuses on the utility of cMRI-T2*, for the preclinical detection of myocardial iron overload and monitoring of myocardial iron content during chelation therapy. 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.