Cardiac Hemosiderosis in Transfusion DependentThalassemia: A Mini-Review

Iron toxicity within cardiomyocytes is considered as the main pathogenesis of cardiac dysfunction in transfusion dependent thalassemia (TDT). Various methods such as measuring serum ferritin, evaluating cardiac functional and structural parameters by either cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) or echocardiography, and monitoring the heart rate variability (HRV) have been proposed to monitor cardiac iron content in patients. High inconsistency is present regarding predictability of various parameters derived by each of these methods in order to predict the cardiac iron overload. The aim of present review was to grasp the most appropriate parameters predicting cardiac hemosiderosis in TDT. Predicating values for cardiac iron deposition of the most in-use indicators such as ferritin, cardiac T2* relaxation time, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and HRV were discussed. In addition, a description on the most effective preventive measures for cardiac hemosiderosis was provided.