Physiologic effects of contrast media in the rabbit

The intravenous administration of contrast media (CM) is often associated with alterations in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR). Osmolality is thought to play a role, but the magnitude and even the direction of change may vary under similar osmotic conditions indicating the involvement of other mechanisms. Conscious rabbits received sodium-meglumine diatrizoate (76%, 1 mL/kg, ear vein) every 10 minutes for 1 hour. A similar injection protocol was performed with normal saline and mannitol (36%), equiosmotic to the contrast agent. BP and HR were monitored continuously. Blood samples were collected at the midpoint between each injection for determination of hematocrit, serum osmolality, and iodine concentration. Group parameters at each time point were compared with the Student's t-test. The administration of mannitol caused changes in serum osmolality, hematocrit, and HR as great or greater than the changes caused by equiosmotic diatrizoate. However, BP increased significantly in the diatrizoate group but not in the mannitol group, relative to normal saline. These results suggest that osmolality is important for certain physiologic changes induced by CM, but that BP changes involve mechanisms in addition to osmolality.