Patients who must have MRI tests may be injected with a metal substance that helps enhance the MRI image. However, some patients are complaining of developing gadolinium deposition disease and have filed lawsuits attempting to hold drug companies responsible.

Understanding Gadolinium Deposition Disease

Gadolinium deposition disease is a condition that can occur after gadolinium contrast agent is administered in preparation for an MRI. Gadolinium contrast agent is a metallic agent that is injected into a person in order to help a doctor read MRI results better.

It is a heavy metal and magnetic. When injected intravenously before an MRI, it can enhance the test images and allows organs, blood vessels and tissues to be better seen.

Gadolinium contrast agents can help cancer diagnosis accuracy as well as help to point out infections, internal bleeding, and other serious problems.

However, some patients who have received the gadolinium contrast agent have reported serious side effects. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put out a safety communication in December 2017 that alerted the public to the possibility of gadolinium remaining in a patient’s body for a long time, possibly years.

Gadolinium deposition disease, a condition that occurs if gadolinium remains in the body, can have some serious symptoms. These symptoms include pain and burning sensation in the arms, legs, and torso, brain fog or cognitive problems, headaches, bone and joint pain, impaired memory, rubbery or spongy skin, tightness in the hands and feet as well as thickened and painful ligaments.

This gadolinium deposition disease can also trigger a condition known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF). This can happen in patients that may have had kidney problems in the past. Allegedly, some patients have also experienced multi-organ system failure, even without pre-existing kidney problems.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “For some people with advanced kidney disease, being exposed to certain gadolinium-containing contrast agents during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other imaging studies has been identified as a trigger for the development of this disease.”

This possible symptom of gadolinium deposition disease is very dangerous and “can also affect internal organs, such as the heart, kidneys, and lungs, and it can cause a disabling shortening of muscles and tendons in the joints.”

NSF can be very debilitating and does not have a cure. It can put patients in a wheelchair and keep them from being mobile.

According to gadoliniumtoxicity.com, there are six main criteria for gadolinium deposition disease:

• Head pain
• Brain fog
• Muscle vibrations
• Intense burning feeling in the skin
• Intense boring pain in bones and joints
• Distal arm and leg skin thickening, pain and discoloration

Head pain is common and may feel like a tightness or a burning in the head. Cognitive problems or “brain fog” can also be common and can also be described as mental confusion.

Muscle vibrations, as a symptom of gadolinium deposition disease, can be described as skin “pins” or tingling and twitching. Neuropathy, the condition that is also causing the brain fog, can result in this muscle twitching and vibration feeling.

Both the skin and the joints, in a person with gadolinium deposition disease, experience painful sensations. Skin pain may be localized in the trunk or the extremities. Joint pain is often felt in the distal extremities but can be felt in larger joints like the knees.