@article{Dudley J. Pennell_John B. Porter_Maria Domenica Cappellini_Lee Lee Chan_Amal El-Beshlawy_Yesim Aydinok_Hishamshah Ibrahim_Chi-Kong Li_Vip Viprakasit_Mohsen S. Elalfy_Antonis Kattamis_Gillian Smith_Dany Habr_Gabor Domokos_Bernard Roubert_Ali Taher_2012, place={Pavia, Italy}, title={Deferasirox for up to 3 years leads to continued improvement of myocardial T2* in patients with β-thalassemia major}, volume={97}, url={https://haematologica.org/article/view/6321}, DOI={10.3324/haematol.2011.049957}, abstractNote={<strong>Background</strong> Prospective data on cardiac iron removal are limited beyond one year and longer-term studies are, therefore, important.<strong>Design and Methods</strong> Seventy-one patients in the EPIC cardiac substudy elected to continue into the 3<sup>rd</sup> year, allowing cardiac iron removal to be analyzed over three years.<strong>Results</strong> Mean deferasirox dose during year 3 was 33.6±9.8 mg/kg per day. Myocardial T2*, assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance, significantly increased from 12.0 ms ±39.1% at baseline to 17.1 ms ±62.0% at end of study (<em>P</em><0.001), corresponding to a decrease in cardiac iron concentration (based on ad hoc analysis of T2*) from 2.43±1.2 mg Fe/g dry weight (dw) at baseline to 1.80 ±1.4 mg Fe/g dw at end of study (<em>P</em><0.001). After three years, 68.1% of patients with baseline T2* 10 to <20 ms normalized (≥20 ms) and 50.0% of patients with baseline T2* >5 to <10 ms improved to 10 to <20 ms. There was no significant variation in left ventricular ejection fraction over the three years. No deaths occurred and the most common investigator-assessed drug-related adverse event in year 3 was increased serum creatinine (n=9, 12.7%).<strong>Conclusions</strong> Three years of deferasirox treatment along with a clinically manageable safety profile significantly reduced cardiac iron overload <em>versus</em> baseline and normalized T2* in 68.1% (32 of 47) of patients with T2* 10 to &lt;20 ms.}, number={6}, journal={Haematologica}, author={Dudley J. Pennell and John B. Porter and Maria Domenica Cappellini and Lee Lee Chan and Amal El-Beshlawy and Yesim Aydinok and Hishamshah Ibrahim and Chi-Kong Li and Vip Viprakasit and Mohsen S. Elalfy and Antonis Kattamis and Gillian Smith and Dany Habr and Gabor Domokos and Bernard Roubert and Ali Taher}, year={2012}, month={Jun.}, pages={842-848} }