β-Thalassemia Major (βTM) is a hereditary chronic haemolytic anaemia that requires multiple blood transfusions all along lifetime. Late complication of this treatment is tissue iron overload (IO), mostly located on the reticulo-endothelial system, joints, liver, endocrine glands and the heart. In some patients, IO is responsible for heart failure. Echocardiography allows recognizing preclinical left ventricular dysfunction, which can be related to myocardial IO. Over the last few years, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has become the gold standard for making diagnosis of myocardial IO, by a specific index of myocardial relaxation time, called T2 star (T2⁎). We enrolled 14 βTM patients, mean aged 37.7 ± 10.4 years, with no signs of heart failure, on treatment with iron chelating agents, in whom we sought to investigate whether conventional and/or tissue Doppler velocity echocardiography could discriminate low T2⁎ value patients. Important findings from this preliminary study likely indicate a low prevalence of myocardial IO (approximately 14%) in regularly treated βTM patients. Tissue Doppler velocity imaging was not able to discriminate these latter patients. On the contrary, isovolumetric relaxation time < 60 ms, mitrale E/A velocity ratio > 2, and both atrial chambers dilatation were associated with T2⁎ value < 20 ms.

On the use of conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography in patients with β-Thalassemia major and myocardial iron-overload: Preliminary data by a single centre study.

DE GREGORIO, Cesare
Writing – Review & Editing
;
MORABITO, GAETANO
Investigation
;
SALPIETRO DAMIANO, Carmelo
Visualization
;
COGLITORE, Sebastiano
Supervision
2010-01-01

Abstract

β-Thalassemia Major (βTM) is a hereditary chronic haemolytic anaemia that requires multiple blood transfusions all along lifetime. Late complication of this treatment is tissue iron overload (IO), mostly located on the reticulo-endothelial system, joints, liver, endocrine glands and the heart. In some patients, IO is responsible for heart failure. Echocardiography allows recognizing preclinical left ventricular dysfunction, which can be related to myocardial IO. Over the last few years, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has become the gold standard for making diagnosis of myocardial IO, by a specific index of myocardial relaxation time, called T2 star (T2⁎). We enrolled 14 βTM patients, mean aged 37.7 ± 10.4 years, with no signs of heart failure, on treatment with iron chelating agents, in whom we sought to investigate whether conventional and/or tissue Doppler velocity echocardiography could discriminate low T2⁎ value patients. Important findings from this preliminary study likely indicate a low prevalence of myocardial IO (approximately 14%) in regularly treated βTM patients. Tissue Doppler velocity imaging was not able to discriminate these latter patients. On the contrary, isovolumetric relaxation time < 60 ms, mitrale E/A velocity ratio > 2, and both atrial chambers dilatation were associated with T2⁎ value < 20 ms.
2010
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11570/1895397
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 1
  • Scopus 9
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 4
social impact