Patients' oral hydration levels and incidence of immediate to short-term mild side-effects in contrast agent enhanced MRI diagnostics

Aim: Gadolinium-based contrast agents for radiodiagnostic purposes can lead to side effects, including nephrotoxicity in patients with renal insufficiency. This study evaluated whether the occurrence of mild side effects from gadolinium-based contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) correlates to patients' oral hydration levels. Methods: Oral fluid intake levels 24 h pre- and 24 h post-MRI, as well as incidence of mild side-effects experienced 30 min and 24 h post-MRI were recorded by using a patient self-reporting questionnaire. Results: A total of 174 patients, 29 controls, 98 administered Prohance and 47 receiving Dotarem, were enrolled. Overall, the most frequently reported side-effect was headache; nausea only occurred in patients receiving contrast agent. One or more side-effects experienced 24 h following the MRI scan were reported by 10% (controls), 24% (Prohance) and 22% (Dotarem) of patients, respectively. Multivariate ordinal regression analysis showed that only male gender (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.11–0.53) was statistically significantly associated with a decreased incidence of side-effects 30 min after MRI. At 24-h post MRI, a lack of contrast agent (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.09–1.74) and male gender (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.19–1.09) were associated with fewer side-effects. Conclusions: The level oral fluid intake before and after undergoing gadolinium-based contrast-enhanced MRI does not appear to markedly affect the incidence of common undesirable mild symptoms experienced shortly after the procedure. Confounding differences between patients in reporting side-effects may contribute to these findings.