MRI Assessment of Pituitary Iron Accumulation by Using Pituitary-R2 in β-Thalassemia Patients

What is it about?

Patients with thalassemia major (TM) require repeated blood transfusions which lead to accumulation of iron in different tissues. The pituitary gland is one of the vulnerable targets and accumulation of iron can lead to irreversible hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) in thalassemia patients.Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a useful tool for non-invasive detection and quantification of tissue iron deposits. Pituitary-R2 assessed by MRI seems to be a reliable marker in differentiating the TM patients with normal pituitary function from the ones having secondary hypogonadism due to iron toxicity.

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Why is it important?

Pituitary-R2 assessed by MRI seems to be a reliable marker in differentiating the TM patients with normal pituitary function from the ones having secondary hypogonadism due to iron toxicity.