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Lawsuit filed against gadolinium-based contrast agent manufacturer
On November 1, 2017, Chuck and Gena Norris filed a lawsuit against 11 companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of two gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). The $10 million lawsuit was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court by Todd Walburg of Cutter Law. While it is not the only lawsuit that has been filed recently against MRI contrast agent manufacturers, it is the first high-profile case.
Chuck and Gena Norris have brought much needed media attention to the issue of gadolinium retention from contrast-enhanced MRIs. We hope the media will continue to investigate the problems involving gadolinium-based contrast agents. We believe that Gena’s case is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gadolinium toxicity from GBCAs.
We anticipate that there will be ongoing media coverage of this story and that readers will get the most up-to-date information by doing a search of the Internet.
Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD) in Patients with Normal Renal Function
We have some important news to share with patients with normal or near normal renal function who have developed unexplained symptoms since their exposure to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). The disease we have been dealing with now has a name: Gadolinium Deposition Disease or GDD.
UNC Radiologist, Richard Semelka, MD, has given us permission to publish his “Initial Draft” of the Disease Description for Gadolinium Deposition Disease on our website; to our knowledge, this is the first time it has been published. Dr. Semelka said that this statement is a work in progress, and he intends to revise and expand it as he learns more about patterns of the disease. If important changes are needed, a revised Disease Description will be published.
While his research is ongoing, Dr. Semelka felt that it was important to release the Disease Description now, so that GDD is recognized as an entity by an expert, which he believes should be very important for sufferers. Dr. Semelka wants to get the initial description of the disease out into the community to start to provide relief and benefit to patients affected by retained gadolinium.
Gadolinium Deposition Disease. Disease Description.
Author: Richard C Semelka, MD. November/2015Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD) is a disease process observed in subjects with normal or near normal renal function who develop persistent symptoms that arise within hours to 2 months following the administration of gadolinium based contrast agents (GBCAs). In these cases, no pre-existent disease, or subsequently developed disease of an alternate known disease process, is present to account for the symptomatology.
Patient symptoms are similar but not identical to those observed in the condition Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF). Typical clinical features include persistent headache and bone and joint pain. More distinctive features are comparable to those observed in NSF, but to a lesser extent; patients often experience subcutaneous soft tissue thickening that clinically appears somewhat spongey, without the hardness and redness observed in NSF. Tendons and ligaments in a comparable distribution may also appear thickened and painful. Patients may complain of a tightness of the hands and feet that resemble the feeling of being fitted with extremely tight gloves or socks. Patients may experience excruciating pain typically in a distal distribution of the arms and legs but may also be torso or generalized in location. This pain is often described as ‘cutting’ or ‘burning’.
Supporting laboratory evidence.
In the early months following development of the disease patients should exhibit elevated blood, urine or other tissue gadolinium levels. The exact levels necessary are not yet determined. Bone gadolinium deposition is likely present for many years following disease development. In the early months after disease development, it may be of value to show elevated gadolinium deposition in some fluid or tissue to establish the diagnosis.###
As affected patients ourselves, we want to thank Dr. Semelka for publicly recognizing that patients with normal renal function are retaining gadolinium from administered GBCAs, and that they are being adversely affected by its toxic effects.
Sharon Williams and Hubbs Grimm
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You can learn more about Dr. Semelka at: https://www.med.unc.edu/radiology/Dept-info/faculty-staff/faculty-pages/richard-semelka-m-d
Dr. Semelka co-authored a recently published study by Ramalho et al, High Signal Intensity in Globus Pallidus and Dentate Nucleus on Unenhanced T1-weighted MR Images: Evaluation of Two Linear Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents.
Gadolinium in the brain, is it harmful? Yes!
Editorial – Last December, I posted a Viewpoint titled “Gadolinium Retention – Is it all in my head?” When I wrote that, I believed I had retained gadolinium in my brain, thyroid gland, and various other parts of my body. I believed it, but I did not know it for sure. It is one thing to think it, but it causes totally different feelings when you have confirmation that you have retained a toxic metal in your body.
On April 8, 2015, I posted about the gadolinium found in my thyroid tissue that was removed 51 months after my 5th dose of a linear gadolinium-based contrast agent. In July, I learned that an analysis of my 2012 non-contrast brain MRI found evidence of gadolinium deposition in the globus pallidus; that MRI was performed exactly two years after my last dose of contrast. Because of recently published studies, I was not surprised that they detected residual gadolinium in my brain. At the time of my MRIs, except for hypertension and a past history of migraine headaches, I had no history of anything known to alter the blood-brain barrier. Then and now, I continue to have “normal” renal function with an eGFR >60, but yet, I have evidence of long-term retention of gadolinium in my body. If I only had gadolinium in my tissues and no symptoms, I might not worry about it as much, but that is not the case. (more…)
NSF Diagnosis made 10 years after patient’s last dose of contrast
On May 27, 2015, JAMA Dermatology published a Case Report by Larson et al that described a biopsy-confirmed case of “Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis Manifesting a Decade after Exposure to Gadolinium”. According to the report, a long-term hemodialysis patient was exposed to a gadolinium-based contrast agent several times between 1998 and 2004 during magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of his abdominal vessels and arteriovenous fistula. Ten years later, in 2014, he developed new dermal papules and plaques. The diagnosis of NSF was made based on the findings of a biopsy of affected skin which showed thickening of collagen, CD34+ spindle cells, and increased mucin in the dermis. (Information about the agent(s) and dosages are not provided).
Prior to this case, the authors noted that the longest documented time after exposure to gadolinium to NSF manifestation was 3 ½ years.
This case shows that even in patients with severe renal disease retained gadolinium can take many years before causing “visible” evidence of a problem. The authors concluded that, “Although the use of gadolinium contrast agents in patients with kidney failure has markedly decreased, patients with exposure to gadolinium years to decades previously may manifest the disease”. (more…)
Gadolinium Toxicity 