Recent study results have demonstrated that FerriScan, the globally recognised gold standard for the measurement of liver iron concentration (LIC), is not confounded by the presence of liver steatosis. This places FerriScan at a distinct advantage to alternative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) LIC assessment techniques, such as liver T2*, whose results are impacted by the presence of fat due to the inherent nature of the technique.
The study results are to be presented in an abstract at this year’s European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) International Liver Congress which is being held in Amsterdam, between the 19th and 23rd of April 2017. The 4 day congress will be attended by approximately 10,000 scientific and medical experts from all over the world. The study titled ‘Abstract SAT-500: The effect of liver steatosis on non-invasive measurement of liver iron concentration by spin-density projection assisted R2-MRI (FerriScan®)’ will be presented by Resonance Health’s Chief Scientific Officer, Prof. Tim St Pierre, on the 22nd of April 2017. To read the full abstract please click here and search for "FerriScan”.
As the gold standard for assessing body iron stores, FerriScan R2-MRI, has recognised advantages over the alternative tests. FerriScan provides a direct quantitative measurement of LIC and has superior accuracy over serum ferritin, which can be elevated in the absence of iron overload as a result of various other factors such as infection, inflammation, fever, cancer, or liver damage. Conversely, liver biopsy, although accurate, is invasive, painful, and expensive. Alternative MRI techniques for LIC assessment, such as liver T2* MRI, have inferior accuracy and lack standardisation. This new evidence of the scientific rigour of FerriScan in the presence of fat highlights another key advantage over alternative MRI LIC assessment techniques.
FerriScan may be particularly suited to assessing transfusional iron overload in cancer survivors, where both iron overload and increased liver fat may result from cancer treatments. Additionally, with the global obesity crisis and fatty liver becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide, the impact of inferior MRI LIC assessment techniques will prove increasingly problematic. As such, the accuracy of FerriScan results even in the presence of fatty liver is particularly relevant.
For more information on these study results or to meet with Prof. Tim St Pierre at EASL, please email tims@resonancehealth.com.