Acetylcysteine and nephrotoxic effects of radiographic contrast agents -- a new use for an old drug
Article Abstract:
Acetylcysteine may protect the kidneys from the harmful effects of contrast agents. Contrast agents are used during CT scans and coronary angiograms but they can harm the kidneys. This is even more likely if the patient already has kidney disease. A study published in 2000 found that patients with existing kidney disease who received acetylcysteine before and during a CT scan had less kidney damage than those who received a placebo, or inactive substance. Patients with diabetes and kidney disease could receive acetylcysteine during coronary angiography, since they have a high risk of heart disease.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 2000
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Prevention of radiographic-contrast-agent-induced reductions in renal function by acetylcysteine
Article Abstract:
Acetylcysteine appears to protect the kidneys from the toxic effects of some contrast agents. Contrast agents are given to patients who are having a CT scan. Researchers randomly assigned 83 patients with chronic kidney failure to take acetylcysteine or a placebo before and after they received a contrast agent during a CT scan. Twenty-one percent of the patients who received a placebo developed a mild worsening of their kidney function, compared to 2% of those who received acetylcysteine.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 2000
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
BK-related polyomavirus vasculopathy in a renal-transplant recipient
Article Abstract:
Researchers present the case of a 52-year-old man who received a kidney transplant to treat diabetic kidney failure. Seven months later, he developed muscle weakness, an accumulation of fluid in his tissues, and eventually died of a heart attack. Autopsy showed an infection by a polyomavirus that attacked his blood vessels, causing them to leak.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 2001
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: The Sources, Fate, and Toxicity of Chemical Warfare Agent Degradation Products. Chemical and Biological Weapons: New Questions, New Answers
- Abstracts: Clinical and genetic features of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV, the vascular type. An exception to the rule
- Abstracts: Prevalence and clinical features oflumbar zygapophysial joint pain: a study in an Australian population with chronic low back pain
- Abstracts: Prevention of cisplatin neurotoxicity with an acth(4-9) analogue in patients with ovarian cancer. Long-term treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension with aerosolized iloprost, a prostacyclin analogue
- Abstracts: Prison deprivation and protein nutritional status of inmates of a developing community prison. Comprehensive nutritional status in recently diagnosed patients with inflammatory bowel disease compared with population controls