Gadolinium Dye Used in Heart Scans
For patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, like Jessi-Ann Bettcher, a new technique called gadolinium-enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance could help identify who has scar tissue in the heart that increases their chance of being hospitalized or their risk of sudden death.
Gadolinium is injected into the patient’s vein and an MRI performed. The dye has an affinity for scar tissue and its magnetic properties make scar tissue easy to identify. Those with extensive scar tissue are most likely to require a pacemaker or defibrillator.
Professor Dudley Pennell:
Prior to this technique it was difficult to decide which patients could be treated effectively using drugs alone, and which patients needed life-saving devices implanted.
It is a costly and wasteful exercise to implant all patients with DCM when only 20 or 30% may truly require it.
BBC News, November 24, 2006
Technorati Tags: gadolinium, mri, heart, heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, dcm, cardiovascular disease
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POSTED IN: Hearty Healthcare
1 opinion for Gadolinium Dye Used in Heart Scans
Gadolinium
Jul 23, 2007 at 11:30 pm
In recent News there are more and more cases of the effects of this drug coming to light.
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