[Nuclear magnetic resonance and iron overload in thalassemia]

We assessed the iron load content in 36 beta-thalassemia patients by NMR correlating the results with serum ferritin levels. 22 of them were affected by beta-thalassemia major on hyper-transfusional regimen (Group A), 4 by beta-thalassemia intermedia (Group B) and 10 by beta-thalassemia major, who had been previously bone marrow transplanted (Group C). In A and C Groups the liver showed the lowest signal intensity on spin echo images (p less than 0.01; p less than 0.06, respectively). A significant correlation between the summation of signals obtained from all the examined organs and serum ferritin levels was observed by evaluating both all the patients globally (r = 0.78; p less than 0.001) and the A and C Group patients. This correlation was confirmed only in the liver both in all the patients (r = 0.77; p less than 0.001) and in A and C Group patients, when the signals obtained from each organ were evaluated.