Dose-dependent mortality involving convulsions due to subarachnoid Urografin® injection in rats

•Inadvertent subarachnoid injection of hypertonic contrast medium is fatal.•The effects of subarachnoid Urografin® injections were studied in a rat model.•Convulsions and fatality were dependent on the amount of Urografin® that was administered.•Subarachnoid injections cause convulsions and death in rats, similar to what happens in humans.

An ionically hypertonic contrast medium Urografin® was inadvertently administered into the subarachnoid space of an individual and this resulted in convulsions and acute respiratory failure. We examined the effects of subarachnoid Urografin® injections on the rat central nervous system. The onset and frequency of the convulsions, as well as fatality, were dependent on the amount of Urografin® administered. No convulsions were observed in rats receiving injections of hypertonic NaCl solution or saline. The results confirmed that subarachnoid injections of Urografin® cause convulsions and death, as previously reported in human cases, and our study ascertained the causal relationship between the above malpractice and fatal outcomes.