Fearful of Gadolinium Breast MRI
Hello, My dr. wants me to get a breast MRI which uses gadolinium. I am very afraid of this as my dad had a cardiac arrest during contrast and also in addition to BC in my family there's a lot of Parkinsons. I also have autoimmune issues! Basically…I don't need any more problems.
The dr will not allow me to have it without the contrast.
Has anyone had this test? Or an MRI that uses another agent? Any advice will be appreciated .
Thank yoU@
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While allergists can do skin tests for allergic reactions to gadolinium they are rarely done since the majority of reactions are immune system related and consequently won’t show up. There are substitutes for GBCA in development but none on the market yet. Unfortunately contrast is required for a breast MRI to be useful. It sounds like you have risk factors for a bad reaction but the only way of finding out is using the contrast. There is a group of people who can’t have MRIs for many different reasons so doctors have to make recommendations using other information which may not be as accurate as the MRI. All the best.
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@nycms Sorry that you're faced with this difficult decision so here are the facts I know to possibly help you decide.https://radiopaedia.org/articles/gadolinium-contrast-agents?lang=us
There are various brands and 2 different categories that MRI contrast fall in to. These are all studied for rate of occurrences and types of reactions.As you can see from the article above it's not impossible but the rate of reactions are extremely low.Some of these hang out in the brain longer than others also so if that's one of your concerns you can easily research and give a call to facility to see what they use. Also patients who are considered high risk for having reactions are given a steroid prep to lessen the chance of a reaction. So if you're able to take steroids this may be a good option for you. So overall there is a risk of course and it depends on your comfort level in using preventative means to minimize risk. Also what are your risks in developing breast cancer? How concerned is your doctor? Is he willing to follow up with Mammo and breast ultrasound if needed, then use MRI if absolutely needed? Anyhow just some things to ponder. In the end sometimes the risks outweigh the measures and it depends on the surrounding factors involved.Best wishes in navigating through this.
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