Milton Bates

Iopamidol Vs metrizamide: A double blind study for cervical myelography

SummaryA double-blind study was performed on 20 patients comparing the safety and efficacy of Iopamidol and Metrizamide in cervical myelography. The radiographic qualities of the Iopamidol and Metrizamide examinations were equivalent when using the same volume (12 to 13 ml), concentration (200 mg I/ml), and a C1-2 route of administration. The performance of a CT scan on selected patients in specified areas of interest provided additional diagnostic information in some patients (e. g syringomyelia, degenerative spondylosis). The adverse reactions were mild in the Iopamidol group with 4 of the 10 patients experiencing no adverse reactions. The more severe reactions, including disorientation, agitation, dysarthria, asterixis, hyperreflexia and EEG abnormalities were limited to the Metrizamide group with one or more occurring in 2 of the 10 patients studied. Only one Metrizamide patient experienced no adverse reactions. In this study containing a limited number of patients, Iopamidol was shown to be a diagnostically effective and safer contrast medium for performing cervical myelography.

Nonradioactive iodoantipyrine enhanced cranial computed tomography: preliminary observations.

Nonradioactive 4-iodoantipyrine, an iodinated indicator that freely diffuses across the blood-brain barrier, was serially imaged in vivo using computed tomography (CT). Prominent enhancement was immediately detected in the brain substance of the dog following the intracarotid injection of this contrast medium. An estimate was made of the brain: blood partition coefficient for 4-iodoantipyrine from the CT derived arterial and brain concentration of this iodinated marker. Practical applicability of this technique is limited unless an improved method for getting the 4-iodoantipyrine into solution can be developed. However, this study reinforces the concept that local cerebral blood flow and metabolism can be analyzed by diffusible tracers using CT.