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CompletedNCT00401336SURFERUpdated May 24, 2023

Quantification of Liver Iron Overload and Steatosis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

An interventional study of Magnetic resonance imaging multiecho gradient-echo sequence in Iron Overload, Metabolic Syndrome X and Hepatitis B, sponsored by Rennes University Hospital. Completed at 10 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-05-24.

Sponsored by Rennes University Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
250
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Iron excess is increasingly regarded as an important cofactor in the morbidity attributed to many disorders. Assessment of body iron stores by measurement of serum ferritin concentrations has poor specificity and the most reliable method is histological or biochemical assessment from a liver biopsy. Because liver biopsy is an invasive procedure, imaging methods have been developed to detect and quantify hepatic iron content. The aim of the study is to use a simplified magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to quantify simultaneously iron and fat contents in the liver and to compare the results to the quantification obtained biochemically.

Read the detailed description

Iron excess is increasingly regarded as an important cofactor in the morbidity attributed to many disorders. Assessment of body iron stores by measurement of serum ferritin concentrations has poor specificity and the most reliable method is histological or biochemical assessment from a liver biopsy. Because liver biopsy is an invasive procedure, imaging methods have been developed to detect and quantify hepatic iron content.

The aim of the study is to use a simplified magnetic resonance imaging technique to quantify simultaneously iron and fat contents in the liver and to compare the results to the quantification obtained biochemically.

Patients who need a liver biopsy will be proposed to be enrolled in the study. A magnetic resonance (MR) study will be performed using breath-hold gradient echo sequences with a single echo and a new multiple-echo gradient-echo sequence. Liver and muscle MR signal will be quantitatively determined and compared to biochemical assessment of liver iron concentration and steatosis quantification.

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Conditions studied

  • Iron Overload
  • Metabolic Syndrome X
  • Hepatitis B
  • Hepatitis C
  • Alcohol Abuse

Keywords

  • Magnetic resonance imaging
  • Hepatic iron
  • Steatosis
03

In context

Iron Overload

156 studies on the registry are indexed under Iron Overload; 6 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 250 is above the median of 60 across 97 interventional studies indexed under Iron Overload.

Browse Iron Overload studies →

Lead sponsor

Rennes University Hospital is the lead sponsor of 451 studies on the registry; 51 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adults over 18,
  • Planned liver (or liver biopsy within 2 months before inclusion) for one of these indications: suspicion of liver iron overload, metabolic syndrome, or C, alcohol abuse. No change in diet, transfusions or iron depletion must have occur between the liver biopsy and the MRI.
  • Having given a written .

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non cooperating patient,
  • Patient with dyspnea,
  • Patient with to MR imaging (pace-maker, heart valve,...).
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(4)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
250 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Magnetic Resonance Imaging

    New magnetic resonance imaging multiecho gradient-echo sequence

    Device: Magnetic resonance imaging multiecho gradient-echo sequence

Interventions

  • DeviceMagnetic resonance imaging multiecho gradient-echo sequence

    Breath-hold gradient echo sequences with a single echo and a new multiple-echo gradient-echo sequence

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Liver to muscle signal intensity ratio and T2* calculation versus liver iron concentration

    Time frame: during examination

Secondary outcomes

  1. Difference between in-phase and out-phase T2* calculation versus liver fat concentration

    Time frame: during examination

  2. Correlation between biochemical and MRI quantification of liver iron

    Time frame: during examination

  3. Correlation between participating centers

    Time frame: during examination

  4. Reproducibility of the multiecho gradient-echo sequence

    Time frame: during examination

  5. Influence of the antenna for the multiecho gradient-echo sequence

    Time frame: during examination

07

Study locations

10 sites
  • CHU Angers
    Angers, 49033, France
  • Hôpital Beaujon
    Clichy, 92118, France
  • Hôpital Huriez
    Lille, 59037, France
  • Hôpital Edouard Herriot
    Lyon, 69003, France
  • Hôpital de la Timone
    Marseille, 13385, France
  • Hôpital Saint Eloi
    Montpellier, 34000, France
  • Hôpital Tenon
    Paris, 75970, France
  • Hôpital de Pontchaillou
    Rennes, 35033, France
  • Hôpital du Brabois
    Vandoeuvre les Nancy, 54511, France
  • Hopital Donostia-San Sebastian
    San Sebastian, Spain
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Paisant A, Boulic A, Bardou-Jacquet E, Bannier E, d'Assignies G, Laine F, Turlin B, Gandon Y. Assessment of liver iron overload by 3 T MRI. Abdom Radiol (NY). 2017 Jun;42(6):1713-1720. doi: 10.1007/s00261-017-1077-8. PubMed 28224171 ↗
  • Paisant A, Laine F, Gandon Y, Bardou-Jacquet E. Is room temperature susceptometer really an accurate method to assess hepatocellular iron? J Hepatol. 2017 Dec;67(6):1345-1346. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.07.021. Epub 2017 Aug 5. No abstract available. PubMed 28789881 ↗
  • d'Assignies G, Paisant A, Bardou-Jacquet E, Boulic A, Bannier E, Laine F, Ropert M, Morcet J, Saint-Jalmes H, Gandon Y. Non-invasive measurement of liver iron concentration using 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging: validation against biopsy. Eur Radiol. 2018 May;28(5):2022-2030. doi: 10.1007/s00330-017-5106-3. Epub 2017 Nov 24. PubMed 29178028 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 24, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00401336
Collaborators
Ministry of Health, France
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Nov 20, 2006
Start date
Nov 2006
Primary completion
Mar 2013
Completion
Mar 2013
Last update
May 24, 2023

Study contacts

Yves Gandon, MD
study director · Rennes University Hospital
Eric Bellissant, MD, PhD
study chair · Rennes University Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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