Recent Viewpoints
Important Petition to the FDA, National Institutes of Health and others
A petition drive to Stop the Damage and Find a Cure for Victims of MRI Contrast Toxicity has been started at change.org. The toxicity comes from the gadolinium that is retained from Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents (GBCAs) administered for contrast-enhanced MRIs. We hope all of our readers will sign the petition and then tell all their friends who will sign it and then tell all of their friends. With today’s social media, we have a chance to get the attention of the FDA and other decision makers around the world.
The petition was started by MedInsight Research Institute. https://medinsight.org/ and specifically by Moshe Rogosnitzky, the co-founder and Executive Director. He is an established research scientist and medical innovator whose pioneering work has resulted in the development of new treatments for various types of cancer and auto-immune diseases. We have been in touch with Moshe since late 2015 when he first contacted us about gadolinium toxicity issues.
His blog post announcing the petition drive “What price will we pay for the FDA’s faith in Gd?” lays out his case for why various actions regarding the use of Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents are needed now. He covers many of the points we have raised and brings new insight as to why the FDA, NIH, WHO, and other organizations worldwide must Stop the Damage and Find a Cure for Victims of MRI Contrast Toxicity, the headline for the petition.
Please take action now and show your support by signing this petition at Change.org.
Gadolinium Bioeffects and Toxicity – Special Issue of MRI Journal
A special issue of the journal Magnetic Resonance Imaging has been published and it is dedicated to “Gadolinium Bioeffects and Toxicity”. The issue starts with a safety overview of GBCAs by MRI Safety expert Dr. Emanuel Kanal, and ends with articles by UNC Radiologist Dr. Richard Semelka. One of the articles provides the initial description of Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD) which, while recently named, has been around for a while.
The issue is broken down into 4 sections as shown below. The link will take you to the abstract, but you can access a PDF of the complete paper.
Introduction –
Kanal, E. (2016). Gadolinium based contrast agents (GBCA): Safety overview after 3 decades of clinical experience. Magnetic Resonance Imaging. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.08.017
MRI Findings –
Kanda, T., et al (2016). Gadolinium deposition in the brain. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1346–1350. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.08.024
Radbruch, A. (2016). Are some agents less likely to deposit gadolinium in the brain? Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1351–1354. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.09.001
Ramalho, J., et al, (2016). Technical aspects of MRI signal change quantification after gadolinium-based contrast agents’ administration. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1355–1358. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.09.004
Basic Sciences –
Murata, N., et al, (2016). Gadolinium tissue deposition in brain and bone. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1359–1365. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.08.025
Prybylski, J. P., et al, 2016). Gadolinium deposition in the brain: Lessons learned from other metals known to cross the blood–brain barrier. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1366–1372. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.08.018
Swaminathan, S., et al, (2016). Gadolinium toxicity: Iron and ferroportin as central targets. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1373–1376. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.08.016
Tweedle, M. F., et al, (2016). Gadolinium deposition: Is it chelated or dissociated gadolinium? How can we tell? Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1377–1382. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.09.003
Future Directions –
Semelka, R. C., et al, (2016). Gadolinium deposition disease: Initial description of a disease that has been around for a while. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1383–1390. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.07.016
Prybylski, J. P., et al, (2016). Can gadolinium be re-chelated in vivo? Considerations from decorporation therapy. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1391–1393. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.08.001
Ramalho, J., et al, (2016). Gadolinium toxicity and treatment. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1394–1398. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.09.005
Semelka, R. C., et al, (2016). Summary of special issue on gadolinium bioeffects and toxicity with a look to the future. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 34(10), 1399–1401. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2016.09.002
My thoughts –
I believe this Special Issue is an important step in moving the discussion about gadolinium retention in patients with normal renal function forward. It seems that everyone now agrees that all patients exposed to gadolinium-based contrast agents retain some gadolinium from each dose of contrast that they receive. However, regardless of what you call it, patients are suffering from the toxic effects of retained gadolinium.
There is no doubt in my mind or the minds of other affected patients that retained gadolinium can cause chronic clinical symptoms of varying severity. Hopefully a large population of affected patients will be interviewed and examined soon. I believe that discussing symptoms with patients might trigger a thought process that leads researchers to uncover the missing pieces of the puzzle that explain the difference between what has been seen in brain tissue that contains gadolinium and the symptoms that patients are experiencing.
Sharon Williams
12/2/16
2012 Letter to FDA about Gadolinium Toxicity is available to the public
On October 23, 2012, I sent a detailed letter to the FDA which expressed my concerns about gadolinium toxicity caused by retained gadolinium from Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents (GBCAs). Because of the many recently published studies about gadolinium deposition in the brain and bones of patients with normal renal function, I decided that it was the right time to make my letter available to the public. While some progress has been made, four years have passed since I wrote that letter and I am concerned that the full scope of the problem still might not be addressed.
While I believe that the FDA took my concerns about gadolinium retention seriously, things are moving much too slowly. By making my letter public, I hope it will stimulate more interest in the issue of gadolinium retention and the plight of the many patients who have been adversely affected by its toxic effects.
You can download a copy of my 2012 Letter to the FDA in the Advocacy section. Please share it with your doctors and other affected patients.
To the medical professionals that follow us, I hope you will take time to read my entire letter. I am not a trained medical professional or scientist. However, I believe you will find my comments well-reasoned and fact-based.
Sharon Williams
Study is first to report Gadolinium Toxicity in Patients with Normal Renal Function
“Presumed Gadolinium Toxicity in Subjects with Normal Renal Function – A Report of 4 Cases”, is a landmark paper which documents the first presumed cases of gadolinium toxicity. Richard C. Semelka, MD, Radiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his colleagues are the authors. This is the first study to describe a series of patients with normal renal function who developed symptomatology lasting beyond the immediate post-injection period after the administration of a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA).
Two subjects were assessed at 2 months and at 3 months after GBCA administration (early stage), and 2 subjects were assessed at 7 years and 8 years after GBCA administration (late stage). Clinical features were similar between subjects, and included central torso pain (all), peripheral arm and leg pain (all), clouded mentation (2), and distal arm and leg skin thickening and rubbery subcutaneous tissue (one early and both late subjects). All subjects had evidence of gadolinium retention ranging from one month up to 8 years after disease development.
Regarding clinical findings, the authors note that “these 4 individuals showed features that resemble and are observed in NSF patients”. “Specifically, the glove-and-sock pattern of pain (seen in all patients) is essentially universally seen in NSF, and central torso pain (seen in 3 patients) is seen with some frequency, but not universally, in NSF patients. Skin thickening and doughiness of the hands was seen in the 2 subjects with late-stage disease and is also described as a feature that progressively develops with NSF.” They also noted that “headache and clouded mentation are vague and non-specific clinical symptoms; but they had new onset in 2 subjects”. While numerous recent studies report gadolinium deposition in the brain, no histopathological changes have been documented yet. They point out that a compound may be neurotoxic without being associated with histopathological signs.
These clinical features are comparable to the symptomatology reported by Burke et al, in which the most common self-reported symptoms included bone/joint pain and head/neck symptoms including headache, vision change, and hearing change (77.6% each). (more…)
Gadolinium Toxicity 