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Erschienen in:
01.12.2011 | Cardiac
Heart and liver T2* assessment for iron overload using different software programs
Erschienen in: European Radiology | Ausgabe 12/2011
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Objectives
To assess the level of agreement and interchangeability among different software programs for calculation of T2* values for iron overload.
Methods
T2* images were analysed in 60 patients with thalassaemia major using the truncation method in three software programs. Levels of agreement were assessed using Pearson correlation and Bland-Altman plots. Categorical classification for levels of iron concentration by each software program was also compared.
Results
For the heart, all correlation coefficients were significant among the software programs (P < 0.001 for all coefficients). The mean differences and 95% limits of agreement were 0.2 (−4.73 to 5.0); 0.1 (−4.0 to 3.9); and −0.1 (−4.3 to 4.8). For the liver all correlations were also significant with P < 0.001. Bland-Altman plots showed differences of −0.02 (−0.7 to 0.6); 0.01 (−0.4 to 0.4); and −0.02 (−0.6 to 0.6). There were no significant differences in clinical classification among the software programs.
Conclusions
All tools used in this study provided very good agreement among heart and liver T2* values. The results indicate that interpretation of T2* data is interchangeable with any of the software programs tested.
Key Points
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Magnetic resonance imaging in iron overload assessment has become an essential tool.
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Post processing options to establish T2* values have not been compared.
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No differences were found on T2* of the liver or heart using 3 different techniques.
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Availability of these methods should allow more widespread interpretation of iron overload by MRI.