Deferasirox (Exjade) significantly improves cardiac T2* in heavily iron-overloaded patients with beta-thalassemia major.

Noninvasive measurement of tissue iron levels can be assessed using T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify and monitor patients with iron overload. This study monitored cardiac siderosis using T2* MRI in a cohort of 19 heavily iron-overloaded patients with beta-thalassemia major receiving iron chelation therapy with deferasirox over an 18-month period. Overall, deferasirox therapy significantly improved mean + or - standard deviation cardiac T2* from a baseline of 17.2 + or - 10.8 to 21.5 + or - 12.8 ms (+25.0%; P = 0.02). A concomitant reduction in median serum ferritin from a baseline of 5,497 to 4,235 ng/mL (-23.0%; P = 0.001), and mean liver iron concentration from 24.2 + or - 9.0 to 17.6 + or - 12.9 mg Fe/g dry weight (-27.1%; P = 0.01) was also seen. Improvements were seen in patients with various degrees of cardiac siderosis, including those patients with a baseline cardiac T2* of <10 ms, indicative of high cardiac iron burden. These findings therefore support previous observations that deferasirox is effective in the removal of myocardial iron with concomitant reduction in total body iron.