St Mary’s Hospital has become one of the first hospitals in Europe to reach a milestone of providing 1000 FerriScans (the Gold Standard for measuring Liver Iron Concentration) for children and adult patients.
Celebrations were held to mark the achievement and the collaboration between Australian-based Resonance Health and St Marys, London Paddington. The Imperial Trust set up the FerriScan R2-MRI service four years ago to optimise iron monitoring and reduce the need for liver biopsy in patients.
From Perth to Paddington: St Mary’s collaborate with Resonance Health Ltd, Australia to provide excellence in iron monitoring with 1000 FerriScans for patients!
Left to Right: Melanie Baxter, Resonance Health Ltd, Dr Josu De La Fuente, lead Haematologist at St Marys, Christie Batkin, 7, and Dr Christoph Juli, Consultant Radiologist at St Marys.
Iron overload is potentially a life threatening condition for patients who have regular transfusions or hereditary conditions where too much iron is absorbed from the diet. The iron primarily deposits in the liver and can have dire consequences if left untreated.
The FerriScan R2-MRI technology, developed at the University of Western Australia, has become the Global Gold Standard for measuring liver iron concentration and has replaced the need for liver biopsy in many patients.
Patients are scanned locally on verified MRI machines in the hospital and then data is sent electronically to Resonance Health in Perth, Australia where it is analysed using unique processes under rigorous quality standards. The FerriScan Liver Iron Concentration reports are available within a target turnaround time of 2 business days.
Dr Alavi, Consultant Paediatric Radiologist who leads the team providing the FerriScan service at St Mary's said:
"We aim to incorporate the very best diagnostics into care pathways for haemoglobinopathy patients and those at risk of iron overload. The introduction of FerriScan has significantly improved health outcomes and the excellent collaboration with Resonance Health to provide 1000 patients with access to optimised monitoring is certainly something to be celebrated."
Celebrations were presided over by Dr Alavi and Lead Haematologist, Dr Josu De La Fuente who instigated the service and runs one of the largest paediatric Haemoglobinopathy clinics in the country. The certificate was presented by Melanie Baxter, Global Marketing Director, Resonance Health and the event attended by representatives from four patient societies; the UK Thalassaemia Society, The Sickle Cell Society, The Hereditary Haemochromatosis Society and the Diamond Blackfan Anaemia (DBA) Society who have all advocated access to FerriScan in the NHS for patients.
Left to Right: Melanie Baxter, Resonance Health Ltd, Dr Josu De La Fuente, Leading Haematologist at St Marys and Dr Alavi, Consultant Paediatric Radiologist who leads the team providing the FerriScan service at St Mary's.
Leisa Batkin, Chair of the DBA Society commented on the impact of FerriScan on her daughter Christie, 7, who is one of over 600 children who have been scanned at St Mary’s:
“I can honestly say that I’m not sure where we would be without FerriScan and the wonderful team at St Mary’s. Christie was diagnosed at 12 weeks old and has had regular blood transfusions as part of her care. She needed accurate quantitative monitoring of her liver iron levels. Blood tests and standard MRI liver assessments elsewhere did not provide accurate information and it was only when she had a FerriScan MRI with the reliable quantitative measurement that we discovered she had significant iron overload in her liver and Doctors were able to optimise her treatment. I would like to see all patients with DBA who are at risk from iron overload have access to the optimal FerriScan technology, and expertise that matches the team at St Mary’s.”
Left to right: Melanie Baxter, Resonance Health Ltd, Christie Batkin, 7 who is one of over 1000 patients benefiting from the FerriScan technology and Dr Alavi, Consultant Paediatric Radiologist who leads the team providing the FerriScan service at St Mary's.
FerriScan is currently available at 30 hospitals in the UK and used at over 220 centres globally. St Marys is a centre of excellence in iron monitoring, and has provided more FerriScans to children than any other hospital in Europe over the past four years.
For further information on the Patient Societies please click here
For more information please contact Melanie Baxter 07598929894 or melanieb@resonancehealth.com