Today, the person I knew suffered greatly from the injected MRI contrast. Having been offered the MRI contrast before I could not resist to highlight risks and describe my strong take on those by writing this post.

Downplaying the risk

Most agents used are contrast gadolinium-based, which most doctors describe as “totally 100% safe with zero risks” and never highlight the real risks. They’d just tell you to go get it without risk/reward calculation in the slightest. May very from country to country and person to person, though.

There are risks starting from the general toxicity and inability of the body to eliminate the injected dose fully to neural damage. Especially, if you do it like every year.

Personal experience

Doctors I’ve talked about risks explicitly in the UK were fine to go without contrast as a first pass for myself, which ended u enough. So, in my case, contrast was not even necessary but offered as a default option! If I would not raise a question, I’d be injected with the heavy metal for no reason.

Discuss with doctors, always

That said, In a lot of cases using it is justified, as the reward > the GAD risk.

This post is to raise awareness of those risks and encourage people to discuss it with their doctors. And never put it under the rug, raise the question!

Risks

Mirochondria and Nerve damage. The most important bit IMO.

Gadolinium-Based MRI Contrast Agents Induce Mitochondrial Toxicity and Cell Death in Human Neurons, and Toxicity Increases With Reduced Kinetic Stability of the Agent.

Source

Fibrosis

For some people with advanced kidney disease, being exposed to older gadolinium-based contrast agents (group 1) during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other imaging studies has been identified as a trigger for development of this disease.

Source

Leakage into CSF

It has been reported that leakage of intravenously administered gadolinium-based contrast agents (IV-GBCAs) into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the cortical veins even in healthy subjects.

Source

Zinc Status is Important, for Supplement Gurus here. Doctors never talk about zinc supplement, but zinc status is extremely important.

This single case report suggests that patients with elevated zinc exposure may be at increased risk of gadolinium retention.

Until such frequency is estimated and the tissue consequences of long-term exposure to gadolinium are better understood, physicians requesting MR imaging examinations might consider establishing, by using patient history, whether zinc-containing denture cream, zinc supplements, or vitamin preparations containing large amounts of zinc are being used.

Zinc Transmetallation and Gadolinium Retention after MR Imaging: Case Report

CT Contrasts

Another friend of mine commented when I was writing this post, now mentioning CT contrasts. Worth noting.

I had a mild problem after the CT contrast. It has iodine inside, so my thyroid hormone expression was distorted up for half a year after that CT 😫

Alternative agents?

Some universities in the UK and in the US are actively working on the alternative agents. I’ve seen things like deuterium in play recently, which is exciting for the future agents research. That said, access to non-GAD is limited and GAD is going to be the ‘default option’ for a while.

Deuterium oxide as a contrast medium for real-time MRI-guided endovascular neurointervention

Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents Hypersensitivity: A Case Series

FDA Paper on The pathophysiology and retention of gadolinium

Iatrogenesis