Contrast Gadolinium
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Different kind of contrast media gets employed in the field of healthcare, aiming at improving the medical imaging process. As per Xiao et al. (2016), the contrast agents vary based on magnetic properties which exist in two groups such as superparamagnetic magnetite particle or paramagnetic gadolinium ion complexes. For instance, gadolinium-based contrast medium occurs as the paramagnetic (Xiao et al., 2016). The gadolinium (III) based contrast agents persist in three categories such as organ-specific agents, blood pool contrast and extracellular fluid agents (Gale et al., 2017). The brand of the gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCA) includes gadodiamide, gadobenate dimeglumine, and gadoversetamide as well as gadopentetate dimeglumine, to name a few.
The difference in Contrast Medium
MRS oral contrast agents occur as the most appropriate for the gastrointestinal track scans. Such agents are made from artificial material such as gadolinium, manganese (II) and (III) as well as iron (III). Moreover, some of them originate from different fruit juices (Xiao et al., 2016). Equally, ionic intravenous contrast medium includes the Gd combined with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Notably, intravenous contrast medium comprises the chelates originating from paramagnetic ions which include nonionic and ionic (Food and Drug Administration, 2018). They get confined to the particular tumor and blood pool.
Effects on Imaging
Most of the paramagnetic contrast medium exists as positive agents hence imposing the same impact on the T1 and T2 imaging procedures. Moreover, paramagnetic ones possess effects on T1b tissues, therefore, higher than T2. As a result, the tissues absorbing these agents occurs as brighter on T1 images as compared to T2 ones (Xiao et al., 2016). On the other hand, GBCA such as ferromagnetic and superparamagnetic persist as the negative medium which holds reduction effects of T2 signal due to restriction of the T2 relaxation time (Xiao et al., 2016). Notably, such agents can get converted to T1 ones based on their coating and size of their particles.
Precautions
All the patients receiving the GBCA administration for the first time should receive a medication guide hence possessing critical, required information. After administration, the GBCA could remain in the body for a more extended period despite other being removed by the kidney (Ariyani et al., 2018). As a result, the care professionals should highly consider the retention characteristics of GBCA based on patients conditions such as pregnant women, inflammatory traits and children. The radiologist should examine the patients if suffering from GFR problems (Gale et al., 2017). For instance, kidney-related challenges would result in high chances of retention of the gadolinium in the body.
Effects on Tissue
According to the Food and Drug Administration (2018), various studies indicate different impacts of GBCA on the brain tissues due to accumulation resulting from repeated injection during the MRI scans on the head. As per the Food and Drug Administration (2018), deposition also occurs in parts of the cerebellar cortex while those deposited in cerebellum occurs in both insoluble and soluble forms. High deposition never directly affects body tissues, but studies indicate that they interfere with a function such as actions of the thyroid hormones which plays a crucial part in the development of cerebellar (Ariyani et al., 2018).
References
Xiao, Y. D., Paudel, R., Liu, J., Ma, C., Zhang, Z. S., & Zhou, S. K. (2016). MRI contrast agents: Classification and application. International journal of molecular medicine, 38(5), 1319-1326.
Ariyani, W., Khairinisa, M. A., Perrotta, G., Manto, M., & Koibuchi, N. (2018). The Effects of Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents on the Cerebellum: from Basic Research to Neurological Practice and from Pregnancy to Adulthood.
Food and Drug Administration. (2018). FDA drug safety communication: FDA warns that gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are retained in the body; requires new class warnings.
Gale, E. M., Caravan, P., Rao, A. G., McDonald, R. J., Winfeld, M., Fleck, R. J., & Gee, M. S. (2017). Gadolinium-based contrast agents in pediatric magnetic resonance imaging. Pediatric radiology, 47(5), 507-521.