Gadolinium Deposition within the Pediatric Brain: No Increased Intrinsic T1-Weighted Signal Intensity within the Dentate Nucleus following the Administration of a Minimum of 4 Doses of the Macrocyclic Agent Gadoteridol.

background and purposeOur aim was to evaluate whether serial administration of the macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent gadoteridol in children is associated with T1-weighted hyperintensity within the dentate nucleus, an imaging surrogate for gadolinium deposition. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe identified a retrospective cohort of 10 patients younger than 18 years of age who underwent between 4 and 8 gadoteridol-enhanced MR imaging examinations of the brain from 2016 to 2017. For comparison, we identified a retrospective cohort of 9 pediatric patients who each underwent 6 gadodiamide-enhanced MR imaging examinations. For each examination, both dentate nuclei were contoured on unenhanced images and the mean dentate-to-pons signal intensity ratio was calculated. Dentate-to-pons signal intensity ratios from the first and last scans were compared using paired

resultsIn the gadoteridol group, there was no significant change in the mean dentate-to-pons signal intensity ratio from the first to the last scan (0.99 versus 0.99,

conclusionsRepeat administration of the macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent gadoteridol in children was not associated with T1-weighted dentate hyperintensity, while the repeat administration of the linear gadolinium-based contrast agent gadodiamide was associated with T1-weighted dentate hyperintensity, presumably due to gadolinium deposition.