A low albumin level as a risk factor for transient severe motion artifact induced by gadoxetate disodium administration: A retrospective observational study with free-breathing dynamic MRI and an experimental study in rats.

Objectives: In the arterial phase of gadoxetate disodium administration for dynamic MRI, transient severe motion (TSM) sometimes occurs, making image evaluation difficult. This study was to identify risk factors for TSM in a clinical study, and confirm them and investigate the cause in an animal study.

Methods: A retrospective, single-center, observational study included patients who underwent dynamic MRI using gadoxetate disodium for the first time from April 2016 to September 2019 and free-breathing MRI was performed. Differences in clinical characteristics and laboratory tests between the presence and absence of TSM were examined. Animal experiments were conducted in 50 rats; gadoxetate disodium was injected into three sites (distal inferior vena cava (IVC), ascending aorta, and descending aorta) to identify the organ which triggers respiratory irregularities. Phosphate-buffered saline and gadopentetate dimeglumine were also injected into the distal IVC. In addition, to evaluate the effect of albumin, gadoxetate disodium was diluted with phosphate-buffered saline or 5% human serum albumin and injected into the ascending aorta. The time course of the respiratory rate was monitored and evaluated.

Results: 20 of 51 (39.2%) patients showed TSM. On multivariable analysis, a low albumin level was an independent risk factor (P = .035). Gadoxetate disodium administration caused significant tachypnea compared to gadopentetate dimeglumine or PBS (an elevation of 16.6 vs 3.0 or 4.3 breaths/min; both P < .001) in rats. The starting time of tachypnea was earlier with injection into the ascending aorta than into the descending aorta (10.3 vs 17.9 sec; P < .001) and the distal IVC (vs 15.6 sec; P < .001). With dilution with albumin instead of phosphate-buffered saline, tachypnea was delayed and suppressed (9.9 vs 13.0 sec; P < .001, 24.1 vs 17.0 breaths/min; P = .031).

Conclusions: A low albumin level is a risk factor for TSM, which could be caused by the effect of gadoxetate disodium on the head and neck region.