Visipaque™ (Iodixanol)

Visipaque is an isosmolar contrast agent developed to further improve the toxicity profile of contrast agents, suitable for patients considered at high risk for cardiovascular or renal insult.1,2,3
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Full Prescribing Information
AT A GLANCE

25+ years of clinical use

May help mitigate risk of MARCE in comorbid patients4

Improved patient care

Iso-osmolar to blood to minimize vascular fluid shift

Isotonic to blood

Minimizing impact of differences in osmotic pressure

Helps reduce costs

Lower hospitalization costs due to shortened length of stay5

Visipaque: Prepared for high risk patients

Around 3.5 million people in the UK have chronic kidney disease (CKD).6 More than 4.9 million people have diabetes.7 23% of the UK population, 15.5m people are aged 60+. By 2041, the number of people aged 85 is expected to have doubled to 6 million.8

Appropriate selection of contrast media for necessary diagnostic or interventional procedure imaging in high risk patients should be considered to help mitigate the risk of adverse events.9 Visipaque, an iodinated iso-osmolar, isotonic contrast agent indicated for multiple intra-arterial and intravenous procedures, was prepared with this in mind. 3
 
FEATURES

Your choice of iodinated contrast media could help mitigate adverse events

Interventional, structural, or endovascular procedures (e.g., TAVI, CTO, PCI) may need to use higher volumes of iodinated CM. Reducing the frequency of adverse reactions has therefore been a driving force in the development of these diagnostic agents since their initial introduction.9,10
SAFETY

High risk patient populations are ever growing2,11

Visipaque is a third-generation agent with a unique molecular structure developed to further improve the safety profile of iodinated contrast agents.3,11 It is iso-osmolar to blood with the aim of counteracting major fluid shifts across membranes and limiting discomfort.3,12 It is also formulated with balanced electrolytes to help minimize effects on cardiac contractile force/fibrillatory propensity.3,12

While 'low' osmolar agents form the mainstay in the general population of patients undergoing endovascular diagnostic or interventional procedures, Visipaque may be preferred for more complex procedures in patients considered at high risk for cardiovascular or renal insult.4,11

In a real-world study of over half a million co-morbid patients, undergoing IA interventional procedures, Visipaque was associated with a significantly lower absolute risk of MARCE compared to LOCMs.2
VALUE

Can help reduce cost by helping to reduce risk

When compared to total interventional procedure cost, contrast media is inexpensive but CI-AKI and contrast media-related adverse events may increase the use of health care resources and cost of care.13 Given the growth of vulnerable patient populations, practices that reduce CI-AKI incidence and its associated costs are important to identify.5

According to a study conducted to determine the net economic impact of switching from low-osmolar contrast media (LOCM) to iso-osmolar contrast media (IOCM; iodixanol) in patients undergoing inpatient coronary or peripheral angioplasty in the US, moving on to an IOCM-only strategy may yield substantial cost savings to US hospitals where coronary and peripheral procedures are performed.5

In an European study, whose aim was to assess the financial consequences of CI-AKI risk reduction in patients undergoing coronary angiography, with or without PCI, use of Visipaque brought overall savings on the hospital budget in all four countries.14
EVIDENCE-BASED

Data you can trust for interventional cardiology

Randomized controlled trials often do not address all the clinical scenarios that confront physicians.15,16 Specifically in interventional cardiology, high-risk patients are often routinely excluded from revascularization randomized controlled trials (RCTs).18,19 Real-world data complement traditional clinical trials, with broader populations and health care delivery that reflects actual clinical practice.19

In the interventional cardiology setting, use of iso-osmolar Visipaque is supported by:
• Robust randomized controlled trials20-23
• Meta-analyses of intra-arterial studies24-26
• Real-world data from the cath-lab2

This evidence has shown:
• Visipaque can help reduce major adverse cardiac and renal events (MARCE) in high-risk patients 1,2,24-25
• Intra-arterial use of Visipaque reduced the risk of CI-AKI compared with LOCM by 54%24
• Several large RCTs have shown that Visipaque is associated with significantly fewer cardiac adverse events (such as cardiac death, stroke and coronary artery bypass graft) than LOCM24,25
REDUCE PATIENT DISCOMFORT

Increased patient comfort can help improve throughput

Patient comfort is important in busy interventional radiology suites. Sensation of heat/pain may lead to patient movement, poor image quality and repeat examinations, creating increased radiation and costs27,28

Visipaque has been shown to significantly reduce discomfort, heat and/or pain, compared to LOCM29-33 as well as reducing the risk of major cardiac and renal events.

A study of 26,993 high risk patients undergoing complex revascularisation procedures using real-world data generated in US hospitals, Visipaque reduced the relative risk of MARCE by 24% for patients with CLI (p=0.0022) and by 25% for those with claudication (p<0.0001) versus LOCM.1 This real-world evidence is consistent with meta-analysis of head-to-head RCTS.24,25
ONCOLOGY

With cancer patients every step of the way

Contrast-enhanced CT is important to every step of a cancer patient’s journey, from diagnosis and staging to monitoring and follow-up.34 Cancer patients may be susceptible to the adverse renal effects of iodinated CM as they are exposed to multiple nephrotoxic insults, predisposed to dehydration and require many CT scans.34-36 CI-AKI and CKD are highly prevalent.37

Visipaque can help cancer patients by:
• delivering diagnostic accuracy through enabling valuable contract-enhanced CT in patients with renal impairment38
• addressing renal complications considering vulnerable patients with multiple risk factors38-40
• minimising contrast-associated pain protecting patient comfort and care41-42
 

Prescribing Information


Please click here for Visipaque™ prescribing information


Adverse events should be reported
Reporting forms and information can be found at: yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk
Adverse events should also be reported to GE Healthcare at:
gpv.drugsafety@ge.com

News and articles

Learn more about supporting resources for contrast media?

PCI in elderly patients

Is age alone enough reason to avoid percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in elderly patients?

Learn more

Kidneys and contrast media

What makes the kidneys especially prone to injury from iodinated contrast media?

Learn more

Interventional cardiology and TAVI

Operating at the limits of interventional Cardiology: transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)

Learn more

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  35. Ng SC et al. Cancer Imaging 2018; 18(1):30
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