The relative safety of MRI contrast agent in acute necrotizing pancreatitis.
OBJECTIVE
To validate the safety of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (GD-DTPA) by measuring its effect on pancreatic capillary perfusion and acinar injury in acute pancreatitis.


BACKGROUND
Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) is proposed as a gold standard for early evaluation of acute necrotizing pancreatitis. However, iodinated contrast media used for CECT have been shown in these circumstances to reduce pancreatic capillary flow and increase necrosis and mortality. Recent reports suggest that post-GD MRI provides images comparable to CECT in the assessment of severe acute pancreatitis.


METHODS
Necrotizing pancreatitis was induced in 14 Wistar rats by intraductal glycodeoxycholic acid (10 mM/L) and intravenous caerulein (5 microg/kg/h) over 6 hours. Intravital microscopic quantitation of pancreatic capillary blood flow was performed using fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled erythrocytes after induction of pancreatitis and 30 and 60 minutes after an intravenous bolus of either Ringer's solution or GD-DTPA (0.2 mL/kg).


RESULTS
The two study groups were comparable with regard to mean arterial pressure, heart rate, arterial blood gases, hematocrit, amylase, lipase, and trypsinogen activation peptide production throughout the experiment. GD-DTPA did not reduce capillary flow (1.93 +/- 0.05 nL/capillary/min) compared to animals infused with Ringer's solution (1.90 +/- 0.06 nL/capillary/min).


CONCLUSIONS
Intravenous injection of GD-DTPA does not further impair pancreatic microcirculation or increase acinar injury in acute necrotizing pancreatitis. Because of this advantage over CT contrast medium, further development of MRI as a staging tool in acute pancreatitis seems desirable.
Werner
J
J
Department of Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Schmidt
J
J
Warshaw
A L
AL
Gebhard
M M
MM
Herfarth
C
C
Klar
E
E
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D004912:Erythrocytes; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D017879:Isothiocyanates; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000187:drug effects; D019283:Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000009:adverse effects
D017879:Isothiocyanates; C037152:isothiocyanic acid; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA