Stability of Adenoscan (adenosine 3 mg ml-1) in plastic syringes

Adenosine is an effective and safe agent for myocardial stressing in nuclear medicine. It is commercially available as Adenoscan solution (adenosine 3 mg ml-1) and can be conveniently administered to patients via an anaesthesia syringe pump. The solution is dispensed in plastic syringes prior to administration to the patient. The aim of this study was to assess the stability of Adenoscan in plastic syringes to determine if it is possible to pre-dispense the solution and to store dispensed syringes ready for administration to patients. A 4 week stability analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography was carried out on Adenoscan that had been pre-dispensed into polypropylene syringes and stored at 2-8 degrees C. It was found that the concentration of adenosine in the pre-dispensed syringes remained stable during the 4 week period.