[cindylouise]

Gadolinium - how bad is it?

by cindylouise on Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:31 pm

My husband is scheduled for a brain MRI next Wednesday, and they plan to use gadolinium.

I know we just discussed the down side to its use in cases of multiple myeloma ("Multiple MRIs in one session?"). But what if your multiple myeloma specialist believes it to be necessary for you at this time?

As I've mentioned before, my husband has a brain injury due to lengthy CPR that was prior to his myeloma diagnosis. He is currently experiencing increased forgetfulness. At the time of his multiple myeloma diagnosis he was suffering from a very long bout of delirium. This actually led to his multiple myeloma diagnosis. And this is the reason they are digging so deeply into what is currently causing his increased forgetfulness.

While his delirium was felt to be an unusual presentation for multiple myeloma, chemotherapy was the only thing that reversed his delirium. It was felt that the combination of the multiple myeloma, and the pre-existing brain injury were what caused the delirium.

[Cheryl G]

Re: Gadolinium - how bad is it?

by Cheryl G on Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:39 pm

Hello Cindy,

I think I may have said this before, but in any case, I'm sorry to hear of your husband's increasing forgetfulness. I really hope his doctors are able to isolate the problem and find a solution.

I think you may find it helpful to hear Dr. Valent's thoughts on the subject, which he shared in an earlier forum discussion ("Gadolinium - okay to use in MRIs?" ). He wrote:

As a general statement, the MRI without gadolinium is probably acceptable. There are times when gadolinium is important (looking at the spinal cord itself), but if looking for bone disease is the primary reason, no gadolinium is generally acceptable.

Granted, he was looking at the issue from a slightly different perspective, which was whether MRIs without gadolinium are "good enough". However, he basically says what your husband's doctors are saying, which is that in certain situations it is important to use gadolinium. It seems your husband's situation is one of those "certain situations".

I hope this helps a bit. Best wishes,
Cheryl

[cindylouise]

Re: Gadolinium, how bad is it?

by cindylouise on Thu Oct 29, 2015 6:43 am

Thank you Cheryl. We're really hoping this is nothing and that we are being overly cautious. We just can't afford to ignore even the smallest signs any more.