Iotroxamide studies in man--biliary iodine levels following bolus injection and slow infusion. Comparison with ioglycamide.

The concentration of iodine in the bile of patients with indwelling T-tubes has been measured following administration of the new cholangiographic agent Iotroxamide. Studies have been performed after administration of the contrast agent by both 10 min bolus injection and 1 h drip infusion techniques. Comparison has been made with the iodine concentrations obtained after administration of equimolar amounts of Ioglycamide. There was no significant difference in the biliary iodine levels obtained with the two methods of administration when Iotroxamide was the contrast agent employed. However, with Ioglycamide the slow infusion technique produced higher iodine levels than the bolus injection method (P less than 0.05). Comparison between the two agents reveals that, whichever administration technique is used, Iotroxamide provides higher iodine levels than Ioglycamide. After bolus injection the superiority for Iotroxamide is in the region of 20% and after slow infusion is of the order of 10--15%. It is concluded that Iotroxamide is likely to prove superior to Ioglycamide as a cholangiographic agent. In terms of opacification of the biliary tree there is little to choose between bolus injection and slow infusion techniques when using Iotroxamide and the relative toxicity of the two techniques should be the major factor in determining which method is employed in clinical practice.