A review of contrast media research in 1999-2000 (vol 36, pg 123, 2000)

Contrast media research published during the years 1999 and 2000 is reviewe d in this article, in terms of relevance to developments within the field o f diagnostic radiology. The primary focus is on publications from the journ al Investigative Radiology, which publishes much of the clinical and labora tory research performed in this field. The journals Radiology and the Ameri can Journal of Roentgenology are dominant in the field of diagnostic radiol ogy and together publish more than 10 times the number of articles as appea r each year in Investigative Radiology. However, in 1999 for example, these two journals together published fewer articles than did Investigative Radi ology alone that concerned basic (animal) research with contrast media. Thi rty-six percent of the articles in Investigative Radiology in 1999 had a pr imary focus on contrast media and 18% on basic (animal) research with contr ast media. To make this review more complete, articles from other major jou rnals are cited and discussed, as needed, to provide supplemental informati on in the few areas not well covered by articles in Investigative Radiology . The safety of contrast media is always an important topic and research co ntinues to be performed in this area, both to explore fundamental issues re garding iodinated contrast media and also to establish the overall safety p rofile of new magnetic resonance (MR) and ultrasound agents. In regard to p reclinical investigations, most of the work performed in the last 2 years h as been with MR and ultrasound. In MR, research efforts continue to be focu sed on the development of targeted agents. In ultrasound, research efforts are split between studies looking at new imaging methods and early studies of targeted agents. In regard to the clinical application of contrast media , the published literature continues to be dominated by MR. Investigations include the study of disease in clinical trials and in animal models. A lar ge number of studies continue to be published in regard to new techniques a nd applications within the field of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance an giography. This field represents the single, largest new clinical applicati on of contrast media in MR to emerge in the last decade. New clinical resea rch continues to be published regarding the use of contrast media in comput ed tomography (CT), ultrasound, and xray angiography. The introduction of s piral CT (together with the multidetector scanners) has led to greater util ization of this modality, as well as intravenous iodinated contrast media. The number of publications regarding clinical applications of intravenously injected ultrasound contrast agents remains low, with the high expectation s in regard to growth tin terms of number of exams using contrast) of the l ast decade yet to be fulfilled.