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Published on: March 11, 2016
Effect of Low-Osmolar Intravenous Contrast on Renal Length
Christopher J Lisanti1, Charles Hounshell, Christopher L Pate
1From the *Department of Radiology, San Antonio Military Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX; †Department of Radiology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD; ‡Resource Management Division, Brooke Army Medical Center, Houston, TX; and §Department of Radiology, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY.
Objective:
The purpose was to study the effect of low-osmolar nonionic contrast on renal length.
Material And Methods:
This study included 56 patients (4-phase renal computed tomography [CT] and 4-phase CT urogram [CTU], 19 patients each; split-phase CTU, 18 patients). Three radiologists created the best off-axis plane and renal lengths measured on a postprocessing workstation. Two-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni corrections was performed along with single-sample t tests.
Results:
Four-phase renal CT and CTU average differences from unenhanced phases were 0.30/0.16 mm (corticomedullary), 0.88/1.33 mm (nephrographic), and 2.17/2.22 mm (delayed). The nephrographic and delayed phases were significantly different from their unenhanced phase (P < 0.01). Nonsignificant differences between the corticomedullary phase and the unenhanced phase were observed (P = 0.217, 4-phase renal CT; P = 0.232, 4-phase CTU). The split-phase CTU average difference in the enhanced phase was 1.36 mm (P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
Renal length increases 1 to 2 mm with low-osmolar nonionic contrast.
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