Keywords:
Embolism / Thrombosis, Contrast agent-intravenous, CT-Angiography, Pulmonary vessels
Authors:
A. S. Menon, J. A. Abdulkarim; Nuneaton/UK
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2018/C-1402
Aims and objectives
Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography is undisputedly the gold standard investigation in patients with clinical suspicion of PE[1].The basis behind this investigation is that the intravenous contrast administered will be seen as pulmonary vessels and any filling defects noted can be suspected to be an emboli.
Hence the degree of pulmonary arterial opacification determines the adequacy of the scan which inturn depends on the rate and dose of contrast media administered.
Contrast induced-Acute Kidney Injury is a well-known entity in unwell hospitalized patients.
It is usually manifested as an acute rise in serum creatinine or reduction in urine output following the administration of contrast media [2].
The renal dysfunction involved is mostly self-limiting but can significantly increase morbidity and mortality associated with the investigation.
State of the art CT scanners available now with faster image acquisition times have reduce the time interval for which the pulmonary vessels must be opacified to achieve a good quality scan.
At George Eliot Hospital backed by several previous attempts we assessed the feasibility of using a reduced dose of iodinated contrast medium (45 ml) in computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in order to reduce the risk of contrast-induced nephropathy.
The dose reduction was directed at enhancing patient safety and with reduction of scanning cost without affecting the scan quality.