Quantification of gadolinium in nephrogenic systemic fibrosis: re-examination of a reported cohort with analysis of clinical factors.

Background: Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) has been associated with exposure to gadolinium-based contrast agent (GdCA) used in medical imaging.

Objective: We sought to quantify levels of gadolinium in affected skin of patients with NSF and correlate the levels to clinical and laboratory parameters.

Methods: Skin biopsy specimens were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and the micrograms of gadolinium per gram (microg/g) of dry tissue were determined. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained through retrospective chart review. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to correlate tissue gadolinium levels with various parameters.

Results: Six patients from a prior cohort were analyzed for gadolinium in affected skin. The mean amount of gadolinium in affected skin of NSF patients was 320.1 microg/g. No gadolinium was found in limited control tissue from patients unexposed to GdCA or in patients exposed to such agents, but without disease. Higher levels of gadolinium in skin correlated with younger age, lower body weight, lower corrected serum calcium levels, and lower erythropoietin dosing.

Limitations: The study was limited by the small number of cases and by the retrospective nature of the data and skin samples.

Conclusion: Gadolinium is present in substantial amounts within the skin of patients with NSF. Quantification of gadolinium in tissue using ICP-MS may facilitate our understanding of the disease.