@article{3111538,
    title = "Impact of magnetic resonance imaging on cardiac mortality in thalassemia major",
    author = "Chouliaras, G. and Berdoukas, V. and Ladis, V. and Kattamis, A. and Chatziliami, A. and Fragodimitri, C. and Karabatsos, F. and Youssef, J. and Karagiorga-Lagana, M.",
    journal = "Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging",
    year = "2011",
    volume = "34",
    number = "1",
    pages = "56-59",
    issn = "1053-1807, 1522-2586",
    doi = "10.1002/jmri.22621",
    keywords = "adult;  article;  cardiovascular magnetic resonance;  cardiovascular risk;  chelation therapy;  clinical decision making;  controlled study;  female;  heart death;  human;  major clinical study;  male;  mortality;  priority journal;  risk assessment;  survival;  thalassemia major, Adult;  beta-Thalassemia;  Blood Transfusion;  Chelating Agents;  Death;  Heart;  Humans;  Iron;  Iron Overload;  Magnetic Resonance Imaging;  Myocardium;  Proportional Hazards Models;  Regression Analysis;  Risk;  Treatment Outcome",
    abstract = "Purpose: To evaluate whether the introduction of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the management of thalassemia major (TM) patients has affected the risk of cardiac death. Materials and Methods: In all, 804 TM patients from two large reference units were included and the risk of dying of cardiac causes, before and after their first MRI, was assessed by a Cox proportional hazards model with time-dependent covariates. Results: Adding information from MRI reduced the risk of cardiac death from 6.0 deaths/1000 patient-years to 3.9 deaths/1000 patient-years (P = 0.22). The risk of cardiac death before having an MRI study was 82% higher compared to the risk observed after the first MRI. Conclusion: MRI has become a vital component of ongoing management and seems to have a beneficial effect on cardiac mortality in TM. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc."
}