New intravesical contrast medium for CT: preliminary studies with arachis (peanut) oil.

Computed tomography is recognized as a valuable adjunct to clinical staging of bladder carcinomas, with a diagnostic accuracy of 70%-80%. Technique modifications in order to improve the diagnostic results include the use of various intravesical contrast agents. All hitherto described contrast agents suffer from drawbacks, either due to insufficient contrast resolution or to partial volume effect. Arachis (peanut) oil has been used in 69 patients and seems to meet many of the demands that can be made on a good intravesical contrast agent. Both bladder wall and tumor are well delineated, and diffuse and local thickening of the wall can be appreciated., The oil is nonhygroscopic and may therefore be used together with other contrast agents, if necessary.