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.