Contrast-induced nephropathy after intravenous administration: fact or fiction?

Recent prospective clinical investigations in high-risk patients receiving intravenous contrast media for computed tomography (CT) suggest that the incidence and serious negative clinical outcomes are much less common than previously believed. Additional perspectives comparing random variations in serum creatinine in subjects not receiving contrast media show similar fluctuations that would equate to contrast-induced nephrotoxicity (CIN). Putative mechanisms for how CIN could cause death or other serious adverse clinical consequences have not been elucidated.