Benefits and Risks – MR Urography

Benefits

• Both CT and MR urography have been proven effective in detecting issues or abnormalities in parts of the urinary tract including the kidneys, bladder and ureters, or as a follow-up test to further examine for recurrent or new cancers of the urinary tract.
• Compared to other imaging tests, CT and MR urography both provide superior anatomic detail of the urinary tract and surrounding structures.
• MRI is a noninvasive imaging technique that does not involve exposure to ionizing radiation.
• MRI enables the discovery of abnormalities that might be obscured by bone with other imaging methods.
• The contrast material used in MRI exams is less likely to produce an allergic reaction than the iodine-based contrast materials used for conventional x-rays and CT scanning.

Risks

• The MRI examination poses almost no risk to the average patient when appropriate safety guidelines are followed.
• Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is currently a recognized, but rare, complication of MRI believed to be caused by the injection of high doses of gadolinium contrast material in patients with very poor kidney function.