Non-ionic contrast media: a comparison of iodine delivery rates during manual injection angiography

Iodine delivery rates (IDR) of five commonly used non-ionic contrast media were determined at room temperature (24 degrees C) and body temperature (37 degrees C). Contrast media of strength 300 mgI/ml were also evaluated at 50% dilution (150 mgI/ml) with N-saline. Iodine delivery differed significantly (p less than 0.005) between samples at room temperature: Omnipaque 350 (1163 mg/s) less than Niopam 370 (1311 mg/s) less than Omnipaque 300 (1422 mg/s) less than Niopam 300 (1635 mg/s) and Ultravist 300 (1636 mg/s). Niopam 300 and Ultravist 300 delivered 41% more iodine per second than Omnipaque 350 at room temperature. Similar differences were identified at body temperature, while delivery of individual media was on average 23.5% greater than at room temperature. No significant difference between iodine delivery rates of diluted media at room temperature or body temperature was identified. The results demonstrate that iodine delivery and hence vascular opacification are better achieved during hand-injection arteriography by using relatively low viscosity media such as Niopam 300 or Ultravist 300. In digital subtraction arteriography all 300 strength contrast media diluted to 150 strength are equally effective.