Contrast Media side effects

 Contrast Media side effects

The contrast media had some negative effect on one or more organs let us look at seven common organ systems where contrast media exhibits its toxic effects

Vascular toxicity
Soft tissue toxicity cardiovascular
Toxicity hematological changes
Nephrotoxicity
Neurotoxicity
Thyrotoxicosis
Vascular toxicity is the toxic effect of contrast media on the blood vessels contrast media can negatively affect the two main types of blood vessels the veins and the arteries for the venous system many contrast agents are given intravenously through the veins and if you've ever received an injection you would agree that pain can be experienced at the site of injection another toxic effect that contrast has on the venous system is stasis because the flow of blood is slow in the venous system a stagnancy or stasis of the contrast media can occur in this, the contrast does not move through the vein it accumulates in one place which would cause pain that commonly occurs in the veins of the arm where the pain is relieved by abducting the arm thirdly the contrast media can cause inflammation of the vein and any clots within the vein this is known as thrombophlebitis and will cause a delayed pain meanwhile contrast media injected through the arteries can cause a sensation of heat and pain the risk factor for vascular toxicity is the use of the highest molar contrast media this means that less toxic effect to the veins and arteries occur when low is molar contrast media.
Extravasation of CM leads to swelling, pain, and erythema
Symptoms will cease without long-lasting effect
Can be treated from ice packs and NSAIDS
Cardiovascular toxicity contrast
Media can cause symptoms that are linked to cardiovascular disease these include hypotension hypertension cardiac arrhythmia in the form of tachycardia and bradycardia congestive heart failure and so on it can cause these symptoms.
Contrast media has the ability to increase the activity of the vagus nerve a hyperactive vagus nerve will depress the activity of the sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodes of the heart the sinoatrial node is the natural pacemaker of the heart this means that it determines how fast and how much your heartbeats when the activity of the sinoatrial node is depressed the heart rate is reduced which is known as bradycardia.
Contrast media into the blood means that more particles are in the blood this implies that the osmolality of blood is higher this would induce an osmotic pressure that would cause water to move into the blood vessels.
When there is more fluid in the blood vessels the volume of blood is higher when the volume of blood is high the cardiac output is higher this means that more blood is pumped from the heart when the heart pumps more blood pressure is increased and the too high blood pressure is hypertension.
Hematological changes
First contrast media causes a breakdown or hemolysis of the red blood cells secondly it causes red blood cells to aggregate together and coagulate also contrast media slightly reduces the ability of blood to clot
and it doesn't stop there it also has a potentiating effect on a certain anticoagulant called heparin
this means that contrast media will make heparin more powerful than it normally is this means even more impaired blood clotting will happen when there is both heparin and contrast media in the blood.
When contrast media is introduced into a patient with sickle cell anemia it also causes the red blood cells to be rigid and deformed lastly eosinophilia an increase in the volume of white blood cells in the blood has been observed to occur between 24 and 72 hours after contrast media has been injected the risk factor for hematological changes like these are the use of highest molar contrast media.
Nephrotoxicity is the toxic effect of contrast media on the kidneys the effects as severe as kidney failure
First contrast media causes the osmolality of fluid in the renal tubules to increase
this reduces the amount of water that is reabsorbed from the tubules when less water is reabsorbed from the
renal tubules they swell swollen renal tubules cause greater pressure within the kidney
decreasing the amount of blood that flows into the kidneys when less blood flows into the kidney
the glomerular filtration rate is decreased implying impaired renal functioning also contrast media tends to irritate and injure the tissue of the renal tubules and cause tubular obstruction nephrotoxic effects of contrast media are more likely to occur in patients that already have a compromised renal function.
Neurotoxicity
The toxic effects of contrast media on the brain contrast media that flows through the arteries can cross the blood-brain barrier and get to the brain if this occurs the patient will experience seizures headache dizziness visual disturbance or confusion the risk factors for neurotoxicity due to contrast media
Thyroid gland toxic effect of contrast media on the thyroid is seen as an elevated level of thyroid hormone in the body this means that contrast media causes
the thyroid to secrete an excessive hormone
this would lead to a too high rate of metabolism in the body patients suffering from goiter are at risk of experiencing thyrotoxicosis
due to contrast media