Myocardial iron load and fibrosis in long term survivors of childhood leukemia

Background We sought to assess myocardial iron load and fibrosis, which may potentially affect cardiac function, in adult survivors of childhood leukemias and their relationships with left (LV) and right ventricular (RV) function. Procedure Fifty-eight (33 males) adult survivors, aged 24.5 ± 4.4, underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) at 16.6 ± 5.8 years after completion of treatment. Myocardial iron load and fibrosis were quantified using respectively T2* scan and late gadolinium enhancement. Right and left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) was measured by CMR, while myocardial function was assessed using tissue Doppler imaging. Results None of the survivors had significant myocardial iron overload (T2*  0.05). Conclusion Ventricular fibrosis may occur in long term survivors of childhood leukemias and is related to diastolic function in the absence of significant myocardial iron overload. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2015;62:698–703. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.