CEREBRAL angiography has proved invaluable in the diagnosis of certain cerebral lesions. The increasing number of patients subjected to this procedure necessitates an awareness of its hazards.
Gross,1 in 1940, first used iodopyracet (diodrast®; the diethanolamine salt of 3,5-diido-4-pyridone-N-acetic acid) for cerebral angiography in this country. He reported no alterations in the brains of dogs subjected to angiography with 35%, 50%, and 70% solutions of this medium. Convulsive seizures, however, occurred in 3 of 10 human subjects in whom he used a 70% solution. Gross recommended the use of a 50% solution, which he believed safe. He reported inadequate visualization with the 35% solution. Kristiansen and Cammermeyer2 found no abnormality in the brains of 13 rabbits that had received 17 injections of 35% iodopyracet.
Broman and Olsson,3 however, showed that contrast media of the iodopyracet type "are capable of causing a damage solely of the BBB