Comparison of hepatic iron and serum ferritin concentrations in patients with thalassemia major. Indirect estimation of body iron load, based on serum ferritin concentration, is compared with the reference method, direct measurement of hepatic iron concentration (by chemical analysis or magnetic-susceptibility studies) in patients with thalassemia major treated with deferiprone. Open circles denote the values determined prior to deferiprone therapy and solid circles those at the time of final analysis after 1 to 5 years of treatment. The diagonal line denotes the simple linear least-squares regression between the two variables. (Reprinted by permission of The New England Journal of Medicine, Olivieri NF, Brittenham GM, Matsui D, et al. Volume 332, pp 918-922, 1995. Copyright 1995. Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.)93