Comparison of iodixanol 320 and iohexol 350 in image quality during 64-slice multidetector computed tomography: Prospective randomized study

摘要

The ideal contrast agent for coronary and cardiac imaging would be a blood-pool agent that yields maximal contrast enhancement between the arteries and the myocardial tissue but does not adversely affect cardiac performance. The larger molecular size of the dimers theoretically gives superior visualization of coronary arteries than monomers due to a longer lasting attenuation difference between coronary arteries and myocardial tissue caused by slower diffusion rate through the capillary pores [1]. Agents with lower osmolarity have been known to result in less heart rate (HR) changes and changes in cardiac function compared with agents of higher osmolarity [2,3]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the following: 1) if the lower iodine content of dimeric, iso-osmolar agent, iodixanol 320 (Visipa-que? 320 [320 mg 1/mL]; GE Healthcare, USA) provides similar vascular and myocardial enhancement in 64-slice multidetector cardiac computed tomography (MDCT), compared with the mono-meric, hyperosmolar iohexol 350 (Omnipaque? 350 [350 mg 1/mL], GE Healthcare, USA); 2) if iodixanol may cause less hemodynamic changes during real clinical use.