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Does MR arthrography cause intracranial gadolinium deposition?

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Skeletal Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To determine (i) whether intra-articular gadolinium from MR arthrography (MRA) results in gadolinium deposition in the brain and (ii) whether there is a correlation between intra-articular gadolinium dose and intracranial gadolinium deposition.

Materials and methods

This retrospective study was institutional review board (IRB) approved and HIPAA compliant. The study group included consecutive adult patients who had undergone MRA of the hip or shoulder and subsequent MRI of the brain. None of the patients had a history of intravenous gadolinium exposure. A control group of patients of similar age and sex who were never exposed to gadolinium and had brain MRIs available was included. Signal intensities (SI) of four brain regions: pons, dentate nuclei (DN), globus pallidi (GP), and thalamus (Thal) normalized to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and expressed in SI ratios were measured on T1-weighted non-contrast MR images. Groups were compared using the student’s t test. Linear correlation analysis of gadolinium dose and brain SI ratios was performed, and Pearson correlation coefficients (r) are reported.

Results

We identified 109 patients (mean age 44 ± 14 years, 54% men) who had undergone MRA and 149 controls of similar age and sex distribution. There was no significant difference in mean SI ratios of the brain regions between patients and controls: pons/CSF (p = 0.7), DN/CSF (p = 0.4), GP/CSF (p > 0.99), Thal/CSF (p = 0.3). Within the MRA group, gadolinium dose was not associated with SI ratios (p > 0.2).

Conclusion

Our study found no MR evidence of intracranial gadolinium deposition following MRA. In addition, there was no association between intra-articular gadolinium dose and SI ratios in commonly affected regions of the brain.

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Acknowledgments

The study was IRB approved and HIPAA compliant.

Funding

NIH grant K24DK109940.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Yawkey 6E, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Katherine M. Bunnell, Robert Hemke, Jad S. Husseini, Martin Torriani, Susie Y. Huang & Miriam A. Bredella

  2. Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Robert Hemke

Authors
  1. Katherine M. Bunnell
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  2. Robert Hemke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miriam A. Bredella.

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Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was waived for this retrospective study.

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Bunnell, K.M., Hemke, R., Husseini, J.S. et al. Does MR arthrography cause intracranial gadolinium deposition?. Skeletal Radiol 49, 1051–1056 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-020-03380-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-020-03380-5

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