Information on FerriScan measurement of liver iron concentration

Thanks

Hi Simran,

do let us know if you find any ferriscan center in India.

-P.

Dear Pratik,

Ferriscan is not available in India but we have a good option of T2*MRI measuring accurately Cardiac and Liver  Iron at an affordable price

Was this first started sometime in the '80's at Brookhaven National Lab in NY?

-Jean Rose

Ferriscan was developed by Australian physicist, Tim St Pierre. I don't know if he was involved at Brookhaven, but he told me he did spend some time at the University of Rochester in upstate New York.

Hi.. i just want to know where ferrisccan is done in India... ?? I want the centres where ferriscan can be done in india

Ferriscan is no longer done in India.

Ferriscan is no longer done in India.

Was it done earlier? If so, why it got closed? (Assuming from your reply "no longer").

Regards,

-P.

Formerly, it was done in Delhi. I think it is no longer offered due to the cost involved.

I have a question about my Ferriscan results. I'm not sure how to interpret them.

Off and on over the past 10 years, I have been on oral and intravenous iron to treat iron deficiency anemia.

When I was diagnosed with one gene deletion/ thal trait, my symptoms were severe enough to need several blood transfusions. I had over 40 units in about 2 years.  Right now, my levels have been stable for three months.

I had an MRI of my liver a couple of months ago, and at the end of the page of results it said:

   Impression:
    Diffuse hepatic iron overload and hepatomegaly. No focal hepatic
    abnormalities.
    
    
    Addendum Begins
    
    FerriScan liver iron concentration report based on transverse R2
    relaxation rate provided by Resonance Health Analysis Service Pty Ltd:
    
    Average liver iron concentration:  8.7 mg / g of dry tissue ( 155
    mmol / kg of dry tissue).

What does this mean? Will I need chelation therapy soon? Thanks for your help!

A level above 7 requires chelation to correct. Iron load will not correct itself on its own. Exjade may be necessary, especially if further transfusions become necessary. Talk to your doctor. According to the Standards of Care Guidelines for Thalassemia,

> 7,000 μg/g > 2,500 ng/mL Intensive chelation

http://content.resonancehealth.com/000180.pdf

1.8 Upper 95% of normal
3.2 Suggested lower limit of optimal range for LICs for chelation therapy in transfusional
iron loading

7.0 Suggested upper limit of optimal range for LICs for transfusional loading and threshold
for increased risk of iron-induced complications

15 Threshold for greatly increased risk for cardiac disease and early death in patients with
transfusional iron overload

Have you had the DNA test? Iron does not seem to have helped at all and only adds to the iron load from the transfusions. Investigating reasons other than iron would make sense, and some non-deletional forms of alpha thal can cause problems when only one gene is affected. Has folate deficiency been ruled out? Has the possibility of internal bleeding been investigated? It would seem prudent to investigate and rule in or out other possibilities besides iron. It doesn't make sense to prescribe iron when the LIC is already above the high end of safe.

Thanks for your reply Andy!

I have had extensive testing of my stomach and intestines to rule out internal bleeding. They found scarring consistent with prior ulcer disease.  Based on my last bone marrow test, one possible reason for the severity of my symptoms is chronic inflamation.

When I spoke with Dr. Giardina about testing to look for more specific alpha thal mutations or deletions, she told me that the number of variations is huge and that my treatment would probably be the same regardless: ongoing blood transfusions.

I agree that chelation makes sense at this point, along with stopping the iron altogether.  The packed and irradiated (I think that's what they're called)  red blood cells work for two, and sometimes three weeks. The vitamins and drinking tea/coffee seem to help. (I take folic acid also) After so many transfusions of iron and blood, I am actually suprised that the liver iron concentration isn't higher!

Hi,
Just got my son's first ferriscan  results . He is 7 years old and has been transfused since he was 6 months old and been on exjade since he was two years old.

T2* liver 15.6 ms
R2* 64.1Hz
LIC  1.34mg/g

T2* heart 36.6 ms
R2*  27.3Hz
MIC 0.56 mg/g

Zahra

Zahra,

He's doing quite well. How is his growth?

Thank you Andy. He is 7 years old 23.5 kg and 122 cm. Thats the 50th  centile  in growth charts.
Zahra