Comparison of radiographic quality and adverse reactions in myelography with iopamidol and metrizamide.

A randomized double-blind study was conducted to compare the radiographic quality and adverse reactions in myelography of the two nonionic water-soluble contrast media, iopamidol and metrizamide. A total of 46 myelograms were obtained, 28 with iopamidol and 18 with metrizamide. Untoward reactions consisted of nausea, headaches, back and leg pain, neuropsychiatric findings, and urinary retention. Iopamidol caused no reactions in 20 of the 28 cases, while metrizamide caused no reactions in only three of 18 cases. Film quality evaluation showed 22 of the 28 studies with iopamidol were judged excellent, whereas only 11 of the 18 metrizamide studies were judged excellent. The results of this study suggest that iopamidol produces better quality studies with fewer and milder adverse reactions than metrizamide