Gastrointestinal diagnosis with iotrolan: experience in pediatric radiology.

The use of low-osmolar, nonionic, monomeric contrast media has made gastrointestinal diagnosis with water-soluble contrast media less hazardous with a greater diagnostic yield. Since, however, even this group of compounds is hypertonic in comparison with blood, water is still drawn from the body into the bowel, resulting in water and electrolyte shifts and distal dilution of the contrast material with deterioration of the image quality. The use of iotrolan, which is isotonic in comparison with blood, therefore, appears to offer advantages for selected groups of patients. The superiority of the contrast medium iotrolan over iohexol was demonstrated in a double-blind study. A further 72 examinations in an open-ended study confirmed this result.