Gadolinium-based magnetic resonance contrast agents for neuroradiology: an overview

There has been much progress in contrast enhanced neuroradiologic magnetic resonance imaging in the almost 25 years since the first gadolinium-based contrast agent was approved in the United States. Much of this now focuses on the introduction of significantly higher relaxivity agents into our clinical armamentarium and the addition of T2*-weighted imaging sequences to hyperacute stroke or neoplastic evaluations. All 4 magnetic resonance contrast agents approved in the United States during the past decade have been higher relaxivity agents, suggesting a strong trend in our industry to continue to find more efficient, more powerful, more diagnostic means of increasing contrast on imaging studies.