Imágenes del depósito de gadolinio en el sistema nervioso central

Magnetic resonance imaging has been shown to be very useful in the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple diseases affecting the central nervous system. Gadolinium has been used extensively worldwide. It has been estimated that since its introduction more than two hundred million doses of GBCA have been administered globally. Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) were long considered medicines with a high safety profile, the literature reports incidences of immediate adverse effects such as headache, dizziness, and altered sense of taste. Studies performed a few years after the introduction of GBCA showed that there were gadolinium deposits in the tissues but their clinical significance was not known. It wasn’t until 2006 when the first reports were published that associated the gadolinium ion tissue deposits from GBCA with a systemic inflammatory entity of the connective tissue similar to scleroderma known as Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF), in patients with chronic renal failure. In 2013, the association between the use of GBCAs and the progressive increase in the signal intensity of the dentate nucleus and the globus pallidus in T1-weighted MRI images without contrast medium, was described for the first time. This review describes the most relevant aspects of the pathophysiology of these findings taking into account their differential diagnosis.