Imaging Contrast

Contrast agents are injected into patients to help enhance images to make it easier for radiologists distinguish specific areas of the body from surrounding tissues. The most commonly used agents are iodinated contrast dye for computed tomography (CT), interventional cath lab angiography,  RF fluoroscopy, and in surgical OR procedures. MRI scans typically use gadolinium-based contrast agents. Ultrasound and echocardiography (cardiac ultrasound) imaging use contrast agents composed of microscopic bubbles to enhance images that otherwise would be suboptimal.

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New contrast agent receives FDA approval after competitors collaborate on development

The Sept. 21 announcement states that Gadopiclenol Injection—a highly stable macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent—is approved for use in adult and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older during MRI exams.

contrast enhanced mammography

Scoring system outperforms BI-RADS assessments of contrast-enhanced mammography exams

For specificity—a metric that has been somewhat unpredictable in breast MRI and CEM—the scoring system performed significantly better than BI-RADS.

Omnipaque and Visipaque still listed among the FDA's drug shortages

According to the FDA’s most recent update, some presentations will remain out of stock or backordered until January 2023. 

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Contrast shortage prompts experts to contemplate future supply issues

A new article published by the Radiological Society of North America shares valuable commentary from experts in the field regarding how the medical industry can prepare for supply shortages in the future. 

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ACR updates contrast guidelines, permitting non-physician providers to supervise administration

The Aug. 29 statement indicates that non-radiologist physicians, advanced practice providers and registered nurses can oversee intravenous CT and MRI contrast administration at accredited imaging centers.

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EHR-based solutions to the iodinated contrast shortage reduce usage by 12%

This week in AJR, experts from a large, multisite health system detailed their efforts to preserve contrast supplies by implementing electronic health record (EHR) order entry-based interventions.

Have we been 'overdependent' on iodinated contrast? New paper calls into question prior practices before the shortage

"Ultimately, long-term studies are vital to parse out whether the absence of iodinated contrast media greatly affected patient outcomes or if we have been overdependent on ICM unnecessarily.” 

FDA temporarily approves importation of a second foreign-labeled iodinated contrast media

Bracco Diagnostics, Inc has been given the go ahead by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to temporarily import Iomeron (iomeprol injection) into the U.S. market amid the ongoing iodinated contrast media shortage. 

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Around the web

Cardiovascular Business
Global shortage of nuclear imaging isotopes may be over

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

Cardiovascular Business
‘A huge win’: CMS significantly increases Medicare payments for cardiac CT

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

Cardiovascular Business
FDA clears AI tool that flags signs of heart disease in chest CT scans

The newly cleared offering, AutoChamber, was designed with opportunistic screening in mind. It can evaluate many different kinds of CT images, including those originally gathered to screen patients for lung cancer. 

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