When you go to the hospital for CT enhancement, you are often asked to create a shadow. At this time, I will ask in my heart, why should I create a shadow agent? What is a contrast agent? Will it be harmful to the body after beating?
Why Create Shadow Agent?
That's because after intravenous contrast agents (iodine contrast media), the contrast agent that enters the human blood circulation will make the difference between the diseased tissue and the surrounding normal tissue in the human body be particularly obvious.
If you have done a normal CT, why do you still have an enhanced CT scan?
Ordinary CT scan can find some common lesions, but it is not easy to find some lesions in some parts, and the number and extent of lesions cannot be accurately judged for some malignant lesions.
CT enhancement scan will be injected intravenously with iodine-containing contrast agent, according to the contrast agent "in" and "out" of the speed of different, in the CT image clearly show tissue blood flow and lesions, used to distinguish the good and malignant disease, improve the qualitative ability of the lesion. In the case of malignancy, the accuracy of tumor staging can also be improved in this way, and the possibility of surgical resection of the tumor can be judged.
What diseases require an enhanced CT scan?
For neoplastic diseases, abnormal images can be displayed under flat SCAN, but the blood supply, boundaries, and adjacent relationships with surrounding structures of the lesion cannot be clearly understood, and these structures of the lesion are more clearly displayed by contrast agent scanning.
It is necessary to preliminarily determine the benign and malignant nature of the tumor and the surrounding conditions through richer information; vascular lesions can be identified by enhancing CT to clearly display the deformed structure of the diseased blood vessels and identify non-vascular lesions.
What is a contrast agent?
In the latest guidelines, contrast agent is already a former name, and it has a professional name called iodine contrast medium. It is imaging using the density of iodine-containing contrast agents higher or lower than the surrounding tissues, X-ray transmittance and surrounding tissues to form a difference, clearly showing blood vessels and soft tissues on X-ray slides, and giving doctors a reliable diagnosis.
Are there any side effects of contrast agents that enhance CT and are they unsafe?
After several generations of efforts and improvements, iodine contrast agents are non-ionic, water-soluble, and the penetration is also very low. Under normal circumstances, after the iodine contrast agent is injected into the body, it will be excreted through the kidneys and digestive tract in about 24 hours, and drinking more water after the examination will accelerate the excretion of the iodine contrast agent. The adverse reaction rate of contrast agent is very low, generally 0.32% to 0.64%, the most common manifestations are itching, rash, mild nausea and vomiting, so after the examination, the doctor will give at least 30 minutes to watch.
Can everyone inject iodine contrast agents?
People who have not been cured during the hyperthyroid period should not use iodine-containing contrast agents. Diabetic nephropathy patients should consult an endocrinologist or nephrologist when using iodine contrast.
What do I need to prepare before the contrast agent examination?
It is advisable to fast for 3-4 hours before contrast enhancement examination; drink about 500ml-1000ml of warm water in advance 10-15 minutes before abdominal examination; oral antihypertensive drugs for hypertensive patients to control blood pressure; and accompany the family of elderly and frail patients.
Source | Beijing Yimai Sunshine Medical Imaging Diagnostic Center