Thomas A. Hope1, Bundit Chaopathomkul1, Philip E. LeBoit2, Whitney A. High3, Victor S. Rogut1, Robert J. Herfkens4, Robert C. Brasch1
1Department of Radiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; 2Department of Pathology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; 3Department of Dermatology, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA; 4Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) is a debilitating disease associated with the administration of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) in patients who have severe renal disease. The administration of intravenous (IV) iron has been implicated as increasing patient specific risk for developing NSF. This study intends to determine if IV iron worsens skin findings in rats that have been administered high dose GBCAs. 12 healthy rats were injected with high dose gadodiamide for 20 days, 6 of which were also injected with IV iron for 10 days. Visual skin inspection and analysis of deposited gadolinium using ICP-AES did not show differences between the two groups, but biopsy analysis, including CD34 staining is still pending.