Dextran-magnetite: a contrast agent for sodium-23 MRI.

Dextran-magnetite, a superparamagnetic compound, is a powerful relaxation reagent for sodium. Administered intravenously, it is confined mainly to the vasculature and eliminates the signal from plasma sodium, a significant component of the tissue sodium signal. Applications of dextran-magnetite for in vivo sodium imaging of a normal rat and rats with a tumor and experimentally induced peripheral edema are shown. Our results indicate that dextran-magnetite may be useful for improving tumor detection and for imaging of edema. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a contrast agent suitable for sodium magnetic resonance imaging.