What are the side effects of MRI with contrast?

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

For a long time, Gadolinium-based contrast agents were thought to be safe for humans and documented adverse effects like systemic nephrogenic fibrosis were found in patients who had known previous abnormalities in kidney functioning.

Recently, there have been alerts on the deposition of MRI contrast agents in the brain tissues and you might be aware of some of the facts. There is a lot of ongoing research in the area of retention of MRI contrast in the cells of our body following administration during an MRI scan. One of the most recent researches proposes the judicious use of contrast and only when it might increase the image details such that it benefits patient management better than with non-contrast scans.

In your case, I will suggest doing a plain scan first and then take the decision of contrast might benefit.

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

Getting a post-contrast scan has its benefits even though the 3T MRI scan can show images in greater detail. I have not had any patient reporting problems after getting an MRI contrast scan done in over 15 years.

So if your neurologist feels that a contrast scan might help investigate your symptoms then you may proceed for such post-contrast scan. But getting multiple contrast scans is to be done with caution.