Gadobenate dimeglumine

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MultiHance (Bracco)

529 mg/mL in 5 mL, 10 mL, 15 mL and 20 mL vials

Approved indication: magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be enhanced by contrast agents. Gadobenate is a gadolinium-based compound that can be used as a contrast agent when imaging the liver or central nervous system.

Patients are given an intravenous dose in proportion to their body weight. Higher doses are used when imaging the central nervous system. Gadobenate is distributed in the plasma and extracellular space and will highlight areas where the blood-brain barrier has broken down. Most of the dose is excreted in the urine within 24 hours.

In a clinical trial involving 205 patients, with suspected lesions in the central nervous system, enhancement with gadobenate or gadodiamide produced similar quality images.1 A comparison with gadopentetate, in patients with suspected liver tumours, found that gadobenate may have an advantage in delayed imaging.2 While these studies assessed the diagnostic information provided by enhanced MRI, they do not say if the imaging made any difference to the patients' treatments.

The adverse effects of gadobenate include hypertension, tachycardia, injection site reactions, nausea and vomiting. Resuscitation equipment is required as patients may have an anaphylactic reaction to gadobenate.