Assessment of the relationship between iron overload based on cardiac t2* Mri and fragmented qrs in beta-thalassemia major patients

Background: Cardiac involvement in beta-thalassemia major patients is an important cause of mortality. Therefore, in these pa-tients, timely diagnosis of cardiac disorder is essential. Objectives: The present study aimed at determining the association between cardiac iron overload and fragmented QRS (fQRS). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 40 β-TM patients, aged 5-40 years. The presence of fQRS was evaluated in 12-lead surface electrocardiograms. Cardiac T2* MRI was performed to determine the iron overload. The patients were divided into four groups of chelation therapy. Results: The mean age of patients was reported to be 22.50 ± 6.75 years. The groups showed no significant difference regarding gender, age, or left ventricular ejection fraction. The presence of fQRS was detected in 10 patients (25), while T2* value was lower than 20 ms in 10 patients (25). The mean age of patients with and without fQRS was 26.23 ± 2.71 and 19.40 ± 2.61 years, respectively (P = 0.001). The univariate analysis indicated that fQRS had a significant relationship with cardiac iron overload (OR = 5; 95 CI: 1.04-23.99; P < 0.044). The multiple logistic regression analysis represented a significant association between iron overload and fQRS (OR = 5.556; 95 CI: 1.027-30.049). The sensitivity and specificity of the fQRS against MRI were equal to 50 and 83.3 respectively. Conclusions: The absence of fQRS on ECGs could be a good predictor of the lack of cardiac iron overload in β-TM patients. The results showed that fQRS might indicate the no need for close monitoring for cardiac overload with cardiac MRI and aggressive chelation therapy. © 2020, Author(s)