The lack of contrast media in Radiology was the subject of a report by “Jornal da Record” aired on Wednesday (15), with an interview by the scientific director of the Brazilian College of Radiology and Image Diagnosis (CBR), Luciana Costa.
The report showed the case of a young man hospitalized for about two months at Santa Casa de Belo Horizonte (MG) with a diabetes crisis. According to the article, the suspicion is that the disease caused internal bleeding, but doctors are still not sure because they were unable to perform a tomography due to the lack of contrast in the health unit.
The problem affects about 50% of Brazilian clinics and hospitals, according to preliminary CBR data. Among the causes are the increase in demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown held in Shanghai, China, where a factory of one of the largest manufacturers of the input in the world is located. “The factory in Shanghai belongs to the company that does not dominate our market, but has a large share of it. So, whoever had a contract with this company is without [contrast]”, declared Luciana Costa.
Manufacturing was normalized on June 1, but the expectation is that the problem will continue for another two months, approximately. “Perhaps, in mid-August, early September, stocks will begin to be normalized”, said the scientific director of CBR to “Jornal da Record”.
CBR webinar presents strategies for managing contrast media shortages
On Tuesday night (14), CBR promoted a webinar in which strategies to manage the shortage of contrast media were discussed and presented. “It's a worldwide problem today and the CBR, as the representative of the specialty in the country, is bringing this very important discussion at this moment”, declared Luciana Costa.
“We cannot give up quality, to look for solutions while preserving quality”, highlighted the president of the CBR, Valdair Muglia. Learn more and watch the full webinar here.