RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The liver remains the primary site of iron storage, with liver iron concentration (LIC) being a strong surrogate of total body iron. MRI-R2 can accurately measure LIC. The LICNET (Liver Iron Cutino Network) was established to diagnostics of liver iron overload by MRI-R2 subjects with hemochromatosis in hematological disorders. The aims of the study were to look at variation in LIC measurements during time across different chelation regimens. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 130 patients attending 9 Italian centers participating in the LICNET. LIC comparisons over time (T0 and T1 ) were made using t test and/or Wilcoxon test. RESULTS: LIC significantly decreased from MRI1 to MRI2 although at high variance (median change -0.8 mg Fe/g dw, range: -29.0 to 33.0; P = .011) and 7.7% of patients shifted from LIC values of high risk (>15 mg Fe/g dw) to an intermediate-risk category (7-15 mg Fe/g dw). Median change in LIC and correlation with serum ferritin levels (SF), during different chelation regimens, is reported. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest as longitudinal variation in the LIC is possible, across all chelation regimens. It confirms as SF levels not always can be used for estimating changes in LIC.