Comparison of two contrast materials with different iodine concentrations in enhancing the density of the the aorta, portal vein and liver at multi-detector row CT: a randomized study

Abstract

This work investigates differences in contrast enhancement of the aorta, portal vein and liver by two different concentrations of contrast materials using an automatic bolus tracking technique. Seventy patients were assigned randomly into one of two groups. Contrast materials with iodine concentrations of 300 and 370 mg/ml were administered to patients in groups A and B, respectively. The total iodine load (600 mg/kg) and injection time (30 s) were identical. Differences in the increase of the Hounsfield unit of the aorta, portal vein and liver between the two groups were examined by t-test. There were no significant differences between the two groups in any of the contrast enhancements of the aorta, portal vein and liver parenchyma at all phases, except for enhancement of the portal vein at the late arterial phase. Females showed better contrast enhancement of the aorta and portal vein than males. With the same iodine dose and injection time, the concentration of contrast materials did not seem to influence the efficacy of contrast enhancement of the aorta, portal vein and liver, except for the portal vein at the late arterial phase. Planning of protocols for contrast media injection may be made irrespective of the iodine concentrations.

Increasing Contrast Agent Concentration Improves Enhancement in First-Pass CT Perfusion

“…In a study by Suzuki et al, 15 the investigators used 2 iodine concentrations, 300 and 370 mg/ mL, and studied the differences in tissue enhancement in aorta, portal vein, and liver parenchyma. Total iodine dose was normalized to the patient's body weight (600 mg/kg), and bolus duration was kept constant.…”

“…14 In all 3 studies, the study design was very similar, injection rate and total iodine dose were constant, and the iodine concentration was the only variable studied. When comparison with the 2 liver studies 15,16 is attempted, the results are apparently contradictory. However, this difference may be explained by the fact that in both of the liver studies, the injection rate and the total iodine dose was varied from patient to patient.…”

Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding: diagnostic performance of 64-section multiphase CT enterography and CT angiography compared with capsule endoscopy

“…Compared with the standard iodine concentration (300 mg I ml 21 ), a higher iodine concentration (370 mg I ml 21 ) increases contrast enhancement after arterial phase. 31,32 Furthermore, MIP and VRT reconstruction techniques were used to improve the quality of CT image in this study. 33 Hence, a 64-section three-phase CT enterography combined with CT angiography employing 370 mg I ml 21 was recommended.…”

Contrast Medium-Induced Nephropathy (CIN) Gram-Iodine/GFR Ratio to Predict CIN and Strategies to Reduce Contrast Medium Doses

“…By dosing CM in relation to body weight and using a fixed injection duration adapted to scan time, a fixed injected dose rate (mg I/kg/s) is obtained and vascular enhancement becomes essentially unrelated to body size (Awai et al, 2004a). When these principles are used, the choice of CM concentration is of no concern regarding CM enhancement (Awai et al, 2004b;Suzuki et al, 2004).…”