An Evaluation of Pretesting in the Problem of Serious and Fatal Reactions to Excretory Urography

Abstract

A nationwide survey of 10 years of teaching hospital experience covering 3.8 million excretory urograms revealed an overall death rate of 19 per million. A total of 75% of the radiologists questioned employed a pretest before excretory urography, either routinely or in selected cases. Of these, 96% used an intravenous route. A comparison of death rates between pretested patients and those who were not pretested revealed no statistically significant differences. Thus there seems to be no valid reason to depend upon intravenous pretesting in the hope of avoiding serious reactions.