Newswise — Leesburg, VA, June 22, 2023—Based on a published draft in ARRS’ personal American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), the prioritized utilization of pulmonary MR angiography (MRA) for detecting pulmonary embolus (PE) in the overall population aided in preserving iodinated contrast media amid the 2022 scarcity.
"Lead investigator Jitka Starekova, MD, from the radiology department of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, concluded that this solitary institution's encounter illustrates the utilization of pulmonary MRA as a feasible replacement for pulmonary CTA in urgent situations."
Starekova et al.'s investigation encompassed all CTA and MRA assessments conducted to rule out PE at their extensive academic medical facility (University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital and Clinics) during the period from April 1 to July 31 (spanning 18 weekly intervals) in:
- 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic and contrast media shortage),
- 2021 (during the pandemic, though before the shortage),
- 2022 (during both the pandemic, as well as the shortage).
To conserve iodinated contrast media, starting from early May and continuing until mid-July of 2022, MRA was employed as the primary diagnostic test for PE. After examining CTA and MRA reports, Starekova and her colleagues at AJR approximated the amount of iodinated contrast media saved by prioritizing the use of MRA.
In the end, the prioritized utilization of pulmonary MRA for diagnosing PE in the general population resulted in conserving approximately 27 liters of iohexol (Omnipaque) 350mg/ml from April 1 to July 31, 2022. During weeks 8-11, a higher number of MRA examinations (ranging from 45 to 63) were conducted compared to CTA examinations (ranging from 27 to 46).
Acknowledging their AJR accepted manuscript's assessment of MRA for PE diagnosis in "a real-world setting that includes all individuals," the current study also boasts a larger sample size when compared to prior research efforts.
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