Renal Function Affects Gadolinium Deposition in Brain

Renal function affects the rate of gadolinium deposition in the brain after administration of linear gadolinium based contrast agents (GBCA), according to a study published in the European Journal of Radiology.

Researchers from Turkey sought to determine if renal function affects the deposition of gadolinium in brain after administration of linear GBCA. They used T1 signal intensity ratios of dentate nucleus to cerebellar white matter (DN/cerebellum), dentate nucleus to pons (DN/pons) and globus pallidus to thalamus (GP/thalamus) in patients with normal renal function and in patients on chronic hemodialysis for this study.

The researchers performed a retrospective evaluation of 78 contrast enhanced brain MRIs with linear GBCA performed on 13 patients on chronic hemodialysis and 13 patients with normal renal function retrospectively evaluated. The DN/pons, DN/cerebellum and GP/thalamus signal intensity ratios were measured from each brain MRI on unenhanced axial T1 weighted images.

The results showed the hemodialysis group had a statistically significant increase in the signal intensity ratios of DN/pons, DN/cerebellum and GP/thalamus between the first and the last brain MRIs, but the increase in the signal intensity ratios of DN/pons, DN/cerebellum and GP/thalamus between the first and the last brain MRIs in control group were not significant. The signal intensity increase in DN and globus pallidus were significantly higher in hemodialysis group than control group.

The researchers concluded that patients on hemodialysis had significantly higher DN and GP signal intensity increase compared to the patients with normal renal function, and that renal function affects the rate of gadolinium deposition in the brain after administration of linear GBCA.