Researchers have detected gadolinium in gliomas, adjacent normal brain tissue and necrosis tissue in patients who underwent MRI scans, according to new findings published in Neuroradiology. Retention was higher when linear gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) were used compared to macrocyclic GBCAs.

“Several pathological conditions of the brain parenchyma such as tumor, infection, autoimmune disease, and ischemia may alter the integrity of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) resulting in contrast enhancement,” wrote Aida Kiviniemi, MD, PhD, department of radiology at Turku University Hospital in Finland, and colleagues “Whereas gadolinium accumulation is predictable in diseased brain with disrupted BBB and contrast enhancement, gadolinium retention in brain abnormalities without evident BBB disruption or in adjacent normal brain has not previously been studied.”

The authors studied data from 69 patients with primary glioma who underwent contrast-enhanced MR imaging before surgery. While seven patients were exposed to linear GBCAs, the other 62 patients were exposed to macrocyclic GBCAs.