Kidneys at Risk During Some Imaging Tests
Each year, millions of Americans undergo medical imaging procedures, including angiograms, CT scans and MRI. These are used with increasing frequency to examine and treat the heart, blood vessels and other internal organs and tissues. Since they're not invasive, most people don't think twice about undergoing these procedures... and it's true, 'generally' they are safe.
Yet it is important to understand that image-enhancing contrast agents (these travel through blood vessels and show up as a bright color on the CT or MRI scan to allow doctors to better visualize organs and blood vessels during the imaging process) can indeed cause problems ranging from mild to severe allergic reactions or impairment of kidney function.
CONTRAST AGENTS: 101
While contrast agents are helpful in identifying serious medical problems, risks associated with them include short- and long-term issues relating to hypersensitivity and how the agent gets processed by the liver and kidneys.
a.. Mild to moderate kidney damage can develop in up to 25% of high-risk individuals -- notably people with chronic kidney disease, diabetes or congestive heart failure -- after undergoing contrast agent-enhanced imaging procedures (such as coronary angiograms).
a.. Older people are at higher risk, since kidney function diminishes with age.
a.. Even in people with normal kidney function, it is believed that up to 10% experience some kidney impairment, such as a temporary (not necessarily even noticeable) decrease in kidney function.
a.. In severe cases, people can develop a rare but potentially fatal kidney condition known as contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN).
A SIMPLE PILL PROTECTS THE KIDNEYS
At the University of Michigan, radiologist Aine Kelly, MD, MS, and her colleagues evaluated the available body of research on how best to shield kidneys from iodinated contrast agent-induced damage. They studied the results of 41 randomized controlled trials that involved data on the protective effects of agents administered to prevent kidney damage after coronary angiograms and found that...
a.. The most effective one is the inexpensive and readily accessible natural antioxidant N-Acetylcysteine (NAC). NAC is a naturally occurring derivative of a protein amino acid that, in addition to its antioxidant and kidney-protective qualities, is also being studied for benefits relative to heart disease and HIV.
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