Application of magnetic resonance quantitative technique to calculate liver iron concentration in the diagnosis and efficacy evaluation of transfusion-related iron overload

To explore the diagnosis and evaluation efficacy of liver iron concentration (LIC) based on magnetic resonance quantitative technique in liver iron overload in patients with long-term transfusion.

From November 2021 to January 2023, 30 chronic aplastic anemia (CAA) patients with long-term blood transfusion admitted to our hospital were included as the study group. Simultaneously, 20 healthy volunteers with matched gender and age were included in the control group. The serum ferritin (SF), serum iron, total iron binding capacity and transferrin saturation (TSAT) between the two groups was calculated and compared. LIC was evaluated using Liver Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-R2* map imaging. The correlation between LIC and SF and TSAT was analyzed, and the diagnosis value of LIC in hepatic iron overload was calculated. Low-risk patients (n=22) diagnosed with iron overload received continuous regular iron removal treatment and the SF, TSAT and LIC were measured after 6 months.

SF, TSAT and LIC were higher in CAA patients relative to the healthy controls (P<0.05). LIC was positively correlated with SF (r=0.74, P<0.001) and TSAT (r=0.67, P<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of LIC in the diagnosis of hepatic iron overload were 80.00% and 100% based on SF, and 76.0% and 100% based on TSAT, respectively. Additionally, SF, TSAT and LIC were all declined after 6 months of treatment (P<0.05).

The detection of LIC based on MRI-R2* is an effective and non-invasive means for the assessment of liver iron load in patients with long-term transfusion.