Prophylactic oral administration of the antioxidant acetylcysteine, along with hydration, prevents the reduction in renal function induced by contrast agents in patients with chronic renal insufficiency.

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Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify factors predisposing to lung infarction in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE). Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis on 154 patients with the final diagnosis of PE being examined between January 2009 and December 2012 by means of a Toshiba Aquilion 64 CT scanner. The severity of clinical symptoms was defined by means of a clinical index with 4 classes. The pulmonary clot load was quantified using a modified severity index of PE as proposed by Miller. We correlated several potential predictors of pulmonary infarction such as demographic data, pulmonary clot burden, distance of total vascular obstruction and pleura, the presence of cardiac congestion, signs of chronic bronchitis or emphysema with the occurrence of pulmonary infarction. Results: Computed tomography revealed 78 areas of pulmonary infarction in 45/154 (29.2?%) patients. The presence of infarction was significantly higher in the right lung than in the left lung (p?

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