Non-invasive Quantification of Liver Iron With MRI

Excessive accumulation of iron in the body can result from abnormal intestinal absorption in
hereditary hemochromatosis or repeated intravenous blood transfusions (ie: transfusional
hemosiderosis). Excess body iron is highly toxic, and requires treatment aimed at reducing
body iron stores. Measurement of body iron stores is critical for detection of iron
overload, staging its severity and monitoring of iron-reducing therapies that are often
extremely expensive (>$40,000/year) and carry their own toxicities. MRI has been shown to be
very sensitive to the presence of iron. The investigators have developed an MRI-based method
for rapid iron quantification (for instance, whole liver in a single breath-hold). The
purpose of this work is to validate this new method using the FDA-approved Ferriscan
technique (Resonance Health, Claremont, Australia) as a reference standard.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Controls: 18 years or older with no known history of iron overload or liver disease.

- Patients: 10 years or older with known or suspected iron overload

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients with contraindications to MRI (eg. pacemaker, contraindicated metallic
implants, claustrophobia, etc) and pregnant females (as determined by self-report
during MRI safety screening) will be excluded.

- For control subjects, those with known liver disease will be excluded.