Clinical evaluation of side-effects of radiopaque contrast media administered via intravenous and intra-arterial routes in the same patient. A preliminary report.

Abstract

Aperusal of the recent literature reflects the continuing search for an ideal con­trast medium which combines adequate opacification of the vascular system and urinary tracts with low local toxicity and few systemic ill effects (3, 4, 10, 13, 15). The efforts of most investigators have been directed toward two major goals; clinical and pharmacological evaluation of new contrast media and experimental toxicity studies of such agents on a specific effector organ. The former series of studies attempts to compare the advantages of a new contrast medium with other existing compounds in respect to its ability to opacify the desired system, its tolerance, and its undesirable side-effects (4, 10, 13, 15). The latter series is concerned with such phenomena as alterations in blood-brain barrier following the injection of contrast media into the carotid artery, histological evidence of dissolution of the spinal cord gray, grades of injury to the renal tubular epithelium caused by abdominal aortic injection, contract...