Sodium acetrizoate

Sodium acetrizoate (rINN, trade names Urokon, Triurol and Salpix), the sodium salt of acetrizoic acid, is a high-osmolality, water-soluble, iodine-based radiographic contrast medium no longer in clinical use.

Acetrizoate was developed by V.H. Wallingford of Mallinckrodt, and introduced in 1950; it was employed as a contrast agent for several radiographic studies, including pyelography, angiography of the brain, carotid arteries and the aorta, and cholecystography. It was soon found to be highly toxic to the kidneys and nervous system—work urging caution in its administration was published as early as 1959, after reports of adverse reactions ranging from hypersensitivity to brain damage—and was eventually replaced by other agents with higher efficacy and lower toxicity, such as sodium diatrizoate, a closely related compound.