PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Sparacia, G
AU  - Banco, A
AU  - Midiri, M
AU  - Iaia, A
TI  - MR imaging technique for the diagnosis of pituitary iron overload in patients with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia major.
DP  - 1998 Nov 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 1905--1907
VI  - 19
IP  - 10
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/19/10/1905.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/19/10/1905.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.1998 Nov 01; 19
AB  - To identify the optimal MR imaging technique for diagnosing pituitary iron overload, we compared spin-echo and gradient-echo MR imaging with measurements of pituitary T2 relaxation times in 30 patients with secondary hemochromatosis due to transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia major and in 10 healthy volunteers. We found that the optimal MR imaging technique to evaluate pituitary iron overload is the gradient-echo T2*-weighted technique, as it best demonstrated signal reduction in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland.