Non Invasive Quantitative MRI Assessment of Brain Iron Overload in Patients with β-Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease

Abstract

thalassemia and Sickle cell disease are two of the most common hemoglobinopathies in the Middle East countries and in Egypt. These hemoglobin disorders lead to chronic anemia with secondary iron overload either due to body response by increasing intestinal iron absorption or due to regular/ cyclic transfusion therapies used to control the anemia complications. Secondary iron overload occurs in such groups of patients with iron deposition in multiple vital organs as the liver, heart and endocrinal glands causing their cellular damage by the release of toxic free radicles. MRI is used now as a reliable, safe and non-invasive method for iron assessment and used internationally for following up of chelation therapy especially in the liver and heart. This was established due to the fact that iron has paramagnetic properties which cause the surrounding water protons to dephase more rapidly causing more rapid loss of signal in T2 weighted images. Many studies showed that the patients with B-thalassemia and Sickle cell disease develop decrease in their neurocognitive and psychological functions. Chronic anemia, hypoxia and side effects of the chelation therapy were some of the risk factors of such neuroaffection. However, the recent