Magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy of hepatic iron overload.

Experimental animals that had been given excess iron in their diet were studied by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in vivo and by magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy in vitro. Hepatic iron overload in patients with transfusional iron excess was studied by MR imaging, and isolated iron protein fractions were studied in vitro by MR spectroscopy. The spin echo image intensity of livers with iron overload was decreased because of the extreme decreases in T2 compared with normal; T1 was decreased only moderately. The relaxation rates 1/T2 and 1/T1 both showed a linear relationship to hepatic iron levels. Ferritin solutions showed moderate decreases in T2 and mild decreases in T1. The T2 relaxivity of ferritin, which is due to the iron core rather than the apoferritin protein shell, does not appear sufficient to account for the extreme decrease in T2 observed in hepatic iron overload. Low molecular weight cytosol iron is present in lower concentrations than ferritin but potentially has much greater relaxivity and may contribute to the MR findings. These techniques may be useful in other studies of iron metabolism.