Acute side effects of three commonly used gadolinium contrast agents in the paediatric population

Objective: To determine the incidence of acute side effects of three commonly used gadolinium contrast agents in the paediatric population. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records was performed to determine the incidence of acute adverse side effects of i.v. gadolinium contrast agents [MultiHance (R) (Bracco Diagnostics Inc., Princeton, NJ), Magnevist'(R) (Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Wayne, NJ) or Gadavist (R) (Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals)] in paediatric patients. Results: 40 of the 2393 patients who received gadolinium contrast agents experienced acute side effects, representing an incidence of 1.7%. The majority of the acute side effects (in 30 patients) were nausea and vomiting. The incidence was significantly higher in non-sedated patients (2.37% vs 0.7%; p = 0.0018). Furthermore, without sedation, the incidence of both nausea and vomiting was significantly higher in children receiving MultiHance, with a 4.48% incidence of nausea when compared with Magnevist (0.33%, p < 0.0001) and Gadavist (0.28%, p < 0.0001) and a 2.36% incidence of vomiting compared with those for Magnevist (0.50%, p = 0.0054) and Gadavist (0.28%, p = 0.014), whereas no difference was observed between Magnevist and Gadavist within the power of the study. In addition, there was no apparent difference between any of the three contrast agents for the incidence of allergy or other acute side effects detected, given the sample size. Conclusion: The gadolinium contrast agents MultiHance, Magnevist and Gadavist have a low incidence of acute side effects in the paediatric population, a rate that is further reduced in moderately sedated patients. Multi-Hance demonstrated significantly increased incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms compared with Magnevist and Gadavist. Advances in knowledge: The incidence of acute side effects of three commonly used gadolinium contrast agents was determined in the paediatric population, which can have clinical implications.