High speed injection of radiographic contrast media induces severe particulate contamination

In a study of exogenous particulate contamination during angiography, the effect of injection speed of four kinds of radiographic contrast media (RCM) was investigated. The particle count (> or = 10 microns) in all RCM increased in a speed-dependent manner and the increase was especially dramatic at 3 ml s-1. The extent of increase in particulate matter was higher for ioxaglate than for the other three RCM. As particulate matter is unwanted and unnecessary, to prevent the harmful effects in patients much attention should be paid to various factors generating particulate matters, such as characteristics of RCM and plastic syringe.