Headed by Professor Aurelio Maggio (Director of the Department of Haematology and Oncology at Villa Sofia-Cervello Hospital, Palermo, Italy) the Liver Iron Cutino Network (LIC-NET) is a growing network of 12 Italian hospitals working to improve the management of iron overload in patients through accurate assessment of liver iron concentration.
Participants at The Lic-net congress in Palermo led by Prof Maggio.
Network participants held a conference in Palermo in May 2015 and discussed their experiences of using FerriScan R2-MRI and other MRI-based methodologies. The meeting was attended by clinicians, radiologists and representatives of patient associations from across Italy. Professor Tim St Pierre was invited to participate, answering questions from radiologists and presenting at the first session on ‘Which is the best tool for the determination of liver iron content.’
Radiologists expressed their thanks to Resonance Health for the excellent service received when setting up the service at their centres and the efficient turnaround of results. The advantages of using FerriScan over other methods of LIC measurement were highlighted. The meeting paved the way for future expansion of the network.
Licnet’s purpose is to develop an international network of institutions using FerriScan R2-MRI and share data to better inform clinicians treating patients with secondary iron overload from chronic blood transfusions.
Professor Maggio commented on the crucial role of FerriScan within the project:
“I think that today because of the great improvement in controlling heart damage due to iron overloading, our attention should be focused on liver. Actually, liver damage is emerging as one of the main issue in Thalassemia Major and other Hemoglobinopathies. The LIC-NET project tries to answer to this problem, allowing to have the same methodology for determining at national and international level."
Resonance Health is very proud to be involved in this visionary project to improve outcomes for a large patient population and we look forward to playing a significant role in LIC-NET’s future expansion.
For further information about LIC-NET please click here