Transient acute renal failure and functional hemispheric depression after cerebral arteriography in diabetic patients

Cerebral angiography was carried out in two diabetic patients in the evaluation of minor vascular ischemic episodes. A transient acute renal failure following cerebral angiography was accompanied by a transient comatose episode with severe unilateral neurological deficits. A functional depression of the injected hemisphere due to a contrast induced impairment of the blood-brain barrier is suggested as the pathophysiological background of the neurological complication.