Intra-individual comparison of different contrast media concentrations (300 mg, 370 mg and 400 mg iodine) in MDCT

Eur Radiol (2010) 20: 16441650DOI 10.1007/s00330-010-1717-7 CONTRAST MEDIA

Florian F. Behrendt Hubertus Pietsch Gregor JostMartin A. Sieber Sebastian Keil Cedric Plumhans Peter Seidensticker Rolf W. Gnther Andreas H. Mahnken

Intra-individual comparison of different contrast media concentrations (300 mg, 370 mg and 400 mg iodine) in MDCT

Abstract Objective: To compare intra-individual contrast enhancement in multi-detector-row computed tomography (MDCT) using contrast media (CM) containing 300, 370 and 400 mg iodine per ml (mgI/ml). Methods: Six pigs underwent repeated chest MDCT using three different CM (iopromide 300, iopromide 370, iomeprol 400). An identical iodine delivery (IDR) rate of 1.5 gI/s and a constant total iodine dose of 300 mg/kg body weight were used. Dynamic CT were acquired at the level of the pulmonary artery, and the ascending and descending aorta. After the time enhancement curves were computed, the pulmonary and aortic peak enhancement, time to peak and plateau time above 300 HU were calculated. Results: Intra-individual peak contrast enhancement was significantly higher for the 300 mgI/ml contrast medium compared with the

370 and 400 mgI/ml media: pulmonary trunk 595 HU vs 516 HU (p=0.0093) vs 472HU (p=0.0005), and aorta 505 HU vs 454 HU (p=0.0008) vs 439 HU (p=0.0001), respectively. Comparison of time to peaks showed no significant difference. Plateau times were significantly longer for the 300 mgI/ml than for the 370 and 400 mgI/ml CM at all anatomical sites. Conclusion: Given normalised IDR and total iodine burden, the use of CM with a standard concentration with 300 mg iodine/ml provides improved contrast enhancement compared with highly concentrated CM in the chest.

Keywords Contrast media . Computed tomography . Intraindividual comparison . Iodine concentration . Administration and dosage . Reproducibility of results

Received: 23 July 2009Revised: 19 October 2009Accepted: 4 November 2009Published online: 24 February 2010# European Society of Radiology 2010

F. F. Behrendt (*) . S. Keil .C. Plumhans . R. W. Gnther .A. H. MahnkenDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital,RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrae 30,52057 Aachen, Germanye-mail: [email protected] Tel.: [phone]Fax: [phone]

H. Pietsch . G. Jost . M. A. Sieber .P. SeidenstickerBayer Schering Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany

A. H. MahnkenApplied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University,Aachen, Germany

Introduction

As computed tomography (CT) technology evolves, the injection protocols for contrast media (CM) need to...