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Figure 1 Relationship Between EF and Myocardial T2*

Among 24 subjects with transfusion-dependent thalassemia, there were 47 paired echocardiograms and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations performed within 1 month of each other. Left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) was measured with both echocardiography and MRI. Myocardial T2*, a parameter that varies inversely with tissue iron concentration, was measured by MRI and T2* <20 ms indicates an elevated iron level. The figure shows the relationship between myocardial T2* and percent EF measured by MRI (A) and by echocardiogram (B). Note that all patients with a depressed EF (<50%) by either modality have evidence of elevated myocardial iron but that not all patients with elevated myocardial iron have a depressed EF.