ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on radiocontrast media induced acute renal failure (CM-ARF) and only briefly discusses other complications such as allergies and hyperthyroidism at the end.
DEFINITION OF CONTRAST MEDIA INDUCED ARF
Comparability of epidemiologic data as well as preventive and therapeutic strategies among studies depends on the uniform definition of the outcome parameter. In the case of CM-ARF however, this basal requirement is not met. The definition of CM-ARF is not uniform and at least four different classifications exist that are commonly used. Some authors refer to ARF as doubling of baseline creatinine, others as increase of baseline value by more than 25% or 50%, or as absolute increase of creatinine by more than 0.5 mg/dl or more than 1 mg/dl (25%,1 50%,2 >0.53). Definition of ARF as the clinically important hard outcome of dialysis dependency is very rare.
