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Effects of serial macrocyclic-based contrast materials gadoterate meglumine and gadobutrol administrations on gadolinium-related dentate nuclei signal increases in unenhanced T1-weighted brain: a retrospective study in 158 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients

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Abstract

Purpose

To perform T1 signal intensity (SI) measurements in the dentate nuclei of adult patients with confirmed multiple sclerosis (MS) after serial administrations of the macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs), gadoterate meglumine and gadobutrol.

Materials and methods

This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board and informed consent was waived. A review of our PACS database for the period from March 1, 2007 to July 31, 2016 revealed 158 confirmed MS patients who received exclusively either gadoterate meglumine (n = 81) or gadobutrol (n = 77) for diagnosis and follow-up. SI measurements on unenhanced T1-weighted images were performed on all scans of all patients and at regions of interest (ROIs) positioned on the dentate nucleus (DN) and pons. The dentate nucleus-to-pons (DNP) T1-SI ratio was subsequently calculated. Unpaired T test and regression analysis were used to evaluate statistical differences.

Results

An increase in DNP was noted between the first and last MR examinations for both gadoterate meglumine (0.0032 ± 0.0216) and gadobutrol (0.0019 ± 0.0346). Although the differences were not statistically significant based across the entire patient population, visible T1 hyperintensity in the DN was noted in approximately one-third of all patients in each group that received at least five administrations of either GBCA.

Conclusions

SI increases on unenhanced T1-weighted images possibly indicative of gadolinium retention occur after serial administrations of the macrocyclic GBCAs, gadoterate meglumine and gadobutrol.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiology, Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy

    Alessandra Splendiani, Marco Perri, Claudia Marsecano, Valentina Vellucci, Giulia Michelini, Antonio Barile & Ernesto Di Cesare

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  1. Alessandra Splendiani
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  2. Marco Perri
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  3. Claudia Marsecano
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  4. Valentina Vellucci
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Contributions

Dr. Splendiani is the principal investigator. Other authors have equally contributed in drafting/revising the manuscript for content, including medical writing for content, study concept or design, and analysis or interpretation of data.

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Correspondence to Alessandra Splendiani.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards and patient consent

We declare that all human and studies have been approved by the local ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. We declare that all patients gave informed consent prior to inclusion in this study.

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Splendiani, A., Perri, M., Marsecano, C. et al. Effects of serial macrocyclic-based contrast materials gadoterate meglumine and gadobutrol administrations on gadolinium-related dentate nuclei signal increases in unenhanced T1-weighted brain: a retrospective study in 158 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Radiol med 123, 125–134 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-017-0816-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-017-0816-9

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