Pulmonary Angiography with Iopamidol and Renografin 76 in Normal and Pulmonary Hypertensive Dogs

Abstract

The cardiovascular response produced during pulmonary angiography performed with the standard ionic agent diatrizoate (Renografin 76) and a new non-ionic agent iopamidol was compared. Nine dogs were evaluated while ventilated on room air and on 10% O2 which significantly elevated pulmonary arterial pressure. Iopamidol produced similar changes in mean aortic and pulmonary arterial pressures compared with normal saline (less than 20% change). Renografin 76, however, produced a significantly greater elevation in mean pulmonary arterial pressure (a 41% increase) and depression in mean aortic pressure (a 40% reduction) than either saline or iopamidol (p less than 0.01). These results were similar for dogs being ventilated with room air and oxygen. The results indicate that iopamidol should be better tolerated and therefore a safer contrast agent for pulmonary angiography than diatrizoate.