Magnevist – Market Leader and Cause of Many NSF CasesMagnevist, along with Omniscan and OptiMARK, is one of the three brands of gadolinium-based contrast agents the FDA now recognizes as having the greatest risk of causing NSF. Magnevist is the brand name for a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) manufactured by Bayer Healthcare. The generic name for Magnevist is gadopentetate dimeglumine, and it is sometimes referred to in medical records as Gd-DTPA.
Magnevist was the first gadolinium-based contrast agent approved for use in the United States, on June 2, 1988. Magnevist is also the market leader, with approximately a 50% market share. Magnevist has a linear ionic molecular structure, which is much less stable than the macrocyclic structure used for Prohance, which has been associated with far fewer cases of NSF.
On September 9, 2010, the FDA announced that Magnevist's label should warn that it should never be used on patients with acute kidney injury or chronic, severe renal impairment. Before this, there was no contraindication for Magnevist, only a warning that the use of all GBCAs be avoided unless the diagnostic information was essential and not available with non-contrast enhanced magnetic imaging. The warning change followed a determination by FDA staff members in the Fall of 2009 that Omniscan, Magnevist and Optimark were the three most dangerous GBCA brands.
Magnevist has caused more cases of NSF than any other contrast agent, with the exception of its competitor, Omniscan. As a result, many MRI side effect lawsuits (gadolinium lawsuits) have been filed against Bayer Healthcare.
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