I have gathered from the recent discussion that the contrast media used for
MRI's is not a major concern for breastfeeding babies--they are not at all
well absorbed orally and have short half-lives is the gist of what I
remember.

Therefore, could someone offer an explanation of what I am reading in the
package insert so that next time this happens I might have a better
understanding?  I was asked about this drug after the MRI had been done and
the mother had been told to pump and dump for 24 hours.  Since it was not
in my books and what I was reading didn't make sense to me, I was reluctant
to offer different advice.

The drug is gadoteridol (ProHance).  "The pharmacokinetics of intravenously
administered gadoteridol in normal subjects conforms to a two-compartment
open model with mean distribution and elimination half-lives (reported as
mean +/- SD) of about 0.20 +/- 0.04 hours and 1.57 +/- 0.08 hours,
respectively."  Going by 5 half-lives, it seems that 10 hrs. at the most
ought to be okay for elimination, but what does "two-compartment" mean?

"Gadoteridol is eliminated in the urine with 94.4 +/- 4.8% (mean +/- SD) of
the dose excreted within 24 hours post-injection."  This seemed to conflict
with the half-lives listed in the previous paragraph--why are we now
talking about 24 hours?

Can one of you kind souls help me interpret this stuff?  She's having
another MRI on 9-24-97 using either this same stuff or gadopentatate, which
IS in Dr. Hale's book.  Thanks.

Becky Krumwiede, RN, IBCLC, Appleton, WI
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