Continued improvement in myocardial T2* over two years of deferasirox therapy in β-thalassemia major patients with cardiac iron overload

Abstract

Background The efficacy of cardiac iron chelation in transfusion-dependent patients has been demonstrated in one-year prospective trials. Since normalization of cardiac T2* takes several years, the efficacy and safety of deferasirox was assessed for two years in patients with β-thalassemia major in the cardiac sub-study of the EPIC trial.Design and Methods Eligible patients with myocardial T2* greater than 5 to less than 20 ms received deferasirox, with the primary endpoint being the change in T2* from baseline to two years.Results Baseline myocardial T2* was severe (>5 to