New Report Provides Strategies for Managing Contrast Shortage | Imaging Technology News

Recent disruptions in a pharmaceutical supply chain have impacted the global availability of GE Healthcare Omnipaque iohexol iodinated contrast media (ICM) for radiologic examinations.

May 19 2022 — Recentdisruptionsin a pharmaceutical supply chain have impacted the global availability of GE HealthcareOmnipaque iohexol iodinated contrast media(ICM) for radiologic examinations.A new Special Reportpublished in the journalRadiologyprovides consensus recommendations for dealing with the shortage ofICMin the near term and discusses long-term issues and potential solutions to supply chain problems.

“We are facing issues similar to those we faced in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by a limited supply of an important pharmaceutical, critical to our ability to care for our patients,” saidThomas M. Grist, M.D., chair of the Department of Radiology at theUniversity of Wisconsin School of Medicineand Public Health in Madison and lead author of theRadiology特别报道。“然而，一个重要的区别是，我们的医院和卫生系统更擅长建立事故指挥中心，对我们面临的挑战实施快速反应，并与我们的病人和咨询医生沟通这些变化。”

Iohexol是一种常见的用于多种CT和x光检查的药物。碘海醇短缺对放射科向需要这些检查的病人提供医疗保健的集体能力提出了全国性的挑战，并将对医疗保健的质量产生短期和潜在的长期影响。

Although four companies supply ICM to the U.S., other manufacturers are unable to rapidly scale up ICM production to meet the demand created by the reduction in iohexol.

The shortage traces its origins to the recent COVID-19-related shutdown of a manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China. In an April 19 letter to consumers, GE Healthcare announced it would be limiting orders of iohexol. The facility has since reopened with production output currently at 50% and expected to increase. GE Healthcare has also expanded production capacity at its manufacturing site in Cork, Ireland.

“It is too easy for us to take for granted the readily available supply of something that is so important to our patients and our radiologic practices until it’s gone,” Dr. Grist said. “We need to commit to changing the supply chain so that a single event in a faraway country does not put us in this predicament again. We owe it to our patients who trust us with their lives and well-being every day of the year.”

这种短缺已经对病人护理产生了影响。在美国各地，依赖碘海醇的医院正在推迟对癌症患者的治疗监测成像，因为他们试图为最紧急的病例保留造影剂。

The Special Report offers strategies for mitigating the impact of the shortage. Short-term strategies include establishing an incident command center to direct and monitor ICM usage, delaying elective contrast-enhanced CT exams, converting exams to non-contrast when possible, reducing contrast dose, and substituting other types of exams, such as MRI, ultrasound or non-contrast PET-CT.

Strategies for the coming months include contrast repackaging, multi-use, and multi-access tactics, negotiation with payers on billing and reimbursement, and consistent communication with ordering providers to ensure compliance.

Long-term strategies include advocating for legislation to facilitate contrast manufacturing plants in the U.S., improving institutional inventory of contrast supplies, and supporting the vendors to expand manufacturing.

“RSNA and its journals are committed to providing critical guidance to help our members navigate challenging times,” said RSNA President,Bruce G. Haffty, M.D.“ThisRadiologySpecial Report provides helpful strategies for managing the iodinated contrast shortage and offers practical recommendations for mitigating the impact of future shortages of this type on the radiology community and our patients.”

The authors hope that the radiology and hospital communities will take this lesson as a wake-up call to adapt the radiology supply chain to prevent similar emergencies in the future.

“We need to endeavor to ensure that companies with significant market share have diverse production locations and capacity,” Dr. Grist said. “We should also look at the ancillary components for ICM administration and make certain we have adequate supplies in stock. Any and all supplies we use may be the next subject of shortages over the next few months or years.”

For more information:www.rsna.org