Table of Contents
What are the symptoms of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis?
Reddened or darkened patches on the skin. Thickening and hardening of the skin, typically on the arms and legs and sometimes on the body, but almost never on the face or head. Skin that may feel “woody” and develop an orange-peel appearance. Burning, itching or severe sharp pains in areas of involvement.
What are the symptoms of NSF?
Symptoms of NSF include painful, burning itching skin, red/dark areas on the skin, skin thickening, edema, loss of flexibility and severe limitations in movement at the joints of the ankles, knees, feet, arms, wrists, and hands, and raised yellow discoloration on sclera.
Is NSF curable?
here is no cure for nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, and no treatment is consistently successful in halting or reversing the progression of the disease.
How common is nephrogenic systemic fibrosis?
The incidence of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis was 4.3 cases per 1000 patient-years. Each radiologic study using gadolinium presented a 2.4\% risk for developing nephrogenic systemic fibrosis.
How do you test for NSF?
A diagnosis of NSF is usually made based upon a detailed patient history, a thorough clinical examination and identification of characteristic findings. Surgical removal and microscopic study of a small sample of affected skin tissue (skin biopsy) is required to verify the diagnosis.
Is nephrogenic systemic fibrosis fatal?
Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is a progressive, potentially fatal multiorgan system fibrosing disease related to exposure of patients with renal failure to the gadolinium-based contrast agents used in magnetic resonance imaging.
What is nephrogenic systemic fibrosis NSF?
Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is a rare disorder that occurs in some individuals with reduced kidney function, who have been exposed to an intravenous contrast material that contains gadolinium. A contrast material is a dye that is sometimes used during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
What can cause NSF in MRI?
NSF is caused by exposure to gadolinium in gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents (GBCAs) in patients with impaired kidney function. Epidemiological studies suggest that the incidence of NSF is unrelated to gender or ethnicity and it is not thought to have a genetic basis.
What causes dermal fibrosis?
Dermal fibrosis may result from a variety of insults including trauma, irradiation or such diseases as scleroderma. Not only is fibrosis disfiguring but it may also lead to death due to loss of function and fibrosis of internal organs, as occurs in scleroderma or cirrhosis of the liver.
How long does gadolinium stay in the body?
With normal kidney function, most of the gadolinium is removed from your body in the urine within 24 hours. If you have acute renal failure or severe chronic kidney disease and receive a gadolinium-based contrast agent, there may be a very small risk of developing a rare condition.
What is systemic fibrosis disease?
Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is a rare disease that can affect different parts of the body. It most commonly first appears as swelling or itching of the skin. It can lead to thickening or hardening of the skin and deposits in other parts of the body.