Review
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World J Cardiol. Aug 26, 2013; 5(8): 270-279
Published online Aug 26, 2013. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v5.i8.270
Early detection of cardiac involvement in thalassemia: From bench to bedside perspective
Nut Koonrungsesomboon, Siriporn C Chattipakorn, Suthat Fucharoen, Nipon Chattipakorn
Nut Koonrungsesomboon, Siriporn C Chattipakorn, Nipon Chattipakorn, Cardiac Electrophysiology Research and Training Center, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Nut Koonrungsesomboon, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Siriporn C Chattipakorn, Department of Oral Biology and Diagnostic Science, Faculty of Dentistry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Suthat Fucharoen, Thalassemia Research Center, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok 3310, Thailand
Author contributions: Koonrungsesomboon N, Chattipakorn SC, Fucharoen S and Chattipakorn N solely contributed to this paper.
Supported by Thailand Research Fund grants RTA5580006 and BRG5480003
Correspondence to: Nipon Chattipakorn, MD, PhD, Cardiac Electrophysiology Research and Training Center, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Huay Kaew Road, Tambon Suthep, Muang District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand. nchattip@gmail.com
Telephone: +66-53-945329 Fax: +66-53-945329
Received: July 9, 2013
Revised: July 31, 2013
Accepted: August 5, 2013
Published online: August 26, 2013
Processing time: 57 Days and 19.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The mortality of thalassemia major (TM) patients due to iron overload cardiomyopathy is still high even though it can be prevented with effective chelation. The role of reliable methods to determine cardiac iron status is very important in order to give a timely effective treatment. This review article provides a comprehensive summary and discussion of various iron assessment methods as well as their existing controversy for use from both basic and clinical reports that have been proposed or used to directly or indirectly determine the cardiac iron status in TM.