Pulmonary Edema following High Intravenous Doses of Diatrizoate in the Rat

Abstract

Serious adverse reactions to intravenous contrast media are rare but of major concern. Corticosteroids are the most commonly used drugs for prophylaxis but there is little documentation of their effectiveness. Controversy also exists about the optimum regime for these drugs. A rat model was used to evaluate the effect of methylprednisolone pretreatment for contrast media-induced pulmonary edema. Rats were given 40 mg methylprednisolone/kg intravenously at various time intervals before the intravenous injection of a high dose of diatrizoate (6 g I/kg). The combination of one dose of methylprednisolone at 24 hours plus another dose at 0.5 hours was the only regimen that caused a significant reduction in the degree of pulmonary edema induced by contrast media. This result provides support for the clinical regimen utilizing iterated doses of corticosteroids over a prolonged period of time.