Comparison of Renal Parenchymal Enhancement Using Different Concentration of Iodinated Contrast Media in MDCT

Many investigators have described comparisons of contrast media with different iodine concentrations in the enhancement of multiple organs and vessels on CT scans. Contrary to other solid organs, the kidney excretes waste products, including contrast media, via the cortex, medulla, and pelvicalyceal system. For the kidney, there are characteristic enhancing techniques such as the use of the arterial phase for cortex and venous phase for medullary during contrast CT imaging. In our study, we compared the degree of renal parenchymal enhancement in the Hounsfield Unit (HU) by the use of 350 and 370 mg I/ml in contrast enhanced computed tomography (CECT) abdomen at the origin of renal artery of right and left Kidney in the arterial phase for both groups. The comparison of renal parenchymal enhancement between the A group and B group showed that the renal parenchymal enhancement is higher in B group. This was a prospective randomized study in which 116 participants were allocated in two groups using the random convenience sampling method. The subjects were divided into two groups; Group A (350 mgI/ml and Group B (370 mgI/ml).  All data were analyzed by an independent t-test to obtain the mean difference between all the variables using 350 mgI/ml and 370mgI/ml. Quantitative data like age, height, weight, Body Mass Index(BMI), pulse rate, creatinine, flow rate, contrast volume, and ejection fraction were presented as mean and standard deviation using an independent t-test. Qualitative data like gender was presented as a percentage. P-value was calculated using an independent t-test. P-value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Data were analyzed by statistical Package for Social Science version 20.0 (IBM corporation, New York, 2014).   Analyzing the data using the independent-test revealed that differences between the two groups were found to be statistically significant (P=0.029). The comparison of renal parenchymal enhancement between the A group and B group showed that the renal parenchymal enhancement is higher in the B group with a t = -2.213 and is statistically significant (P = 0.029). Non-ionic contrast medium of concentration 370 mg I/ml showed higher mean renal parenchyma peak enhancement as compared to 350 mg I/ml. Further, our study showed that the renal parenchymal enhancement pattern between A group and B group was affected by weight, BMI, and pulse rate and contrast volume.