الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Thalassemic patients affected by systemic iron overload, often die owing to iron induced failure of vital organs such as heart and liver. Impairment of the endocrine and exocrine function of the pancreas is a common complication in patients with beta-thalassemia major . The incidence of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes in thalassemia major patients varied from 9% to 15% depending on the age of assessment, the intensity of chelation, transfusion and related patient compliance. The etiology of diabetes in β-thalassemia is increased peripheral resistance to insulin and direct toxic effect of excess iron in the acinar and beta cells of pancreas resulting in insulin deficiency. Structural abnormalities of the pancreas have been described on sonography. Magnetic resonance imaging has emerged for the non-invasive quantification of hepatic iron; it represents a reliable method for assessing iron overload in various tissues, not easily accessible with other techniques. Despite extensive research on MRI of hepatic and cardiac iron overload, there have been limited data on the MRI of pancreas in patients with β-thalassemia major. Moreover, the relation between pancreatic and hepatic siderosis and, between MRI of the pancreas and diabetes has not been documented in medical literature. Very few studies have evaluated the effect of age on pancreatic siderosis and compared MRI data from younger and older patients with thalassemia. |