A COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai has created a shortage of a liquid used in CT scans, X-rays and MRIs, causing Centra Health to delay some procedures as its conserves its supply.
The liquid, known as contrast dye, enhances such imagery, helping doctors see organs, tissues and blood vessels more clearly. CT scans can be used to detect internal bleeding, organ injury, blood clots in lungs and strokes.
GE Healthcare, which distributes many of the dyes, estimated an 80% reduction of supply of one commonly used dye lasting through July.
Centra — which operates Lynchburg General, Virginia Baptist, Bedford Memorial and Southside Community hospitals — is bracing for the effect it will have on patient care.
“Centra has activated a response to aggressively conserve supplies of IV contrast to mitigate the situation,” the health system said in a news release Wednesday. “These efforts will require postponing certain elective imaging procedures until the supply chain issues has been resolved.”
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Patients affected by the postponements will be notified directly to reschedule, Centra said.
“Our focus will be to make every effort to have contrast for patients in critical need,” said Dr. Chris Lewis, Centra’s senior vice president and chief clinical officer. “We continue to explore strategies, including utilizing other imaging technologies when we’re able to minimize disruptions for our patients, but understand this is a fluid situation across the nation.”
The shortage could affect hospitals across the country, one supply chain expert said. The lack of materials likely will raise the price of the liquid, causing GE Healthcare to shift production.
After a rise in COVID cases, Shanghai entered lockdown in late March. While residents there still are quarantined, a plant that manufactures the dyes for GE Healthcare has reopened, the Greater New York Hospital Association said last week.
It’s unclear how much the dyes cost, but speeding up production generally doubles the cost of a product, said Jeff Smith, a professor of supply chain management at Virginia Commonwealth University. Manufacturers might pay their staff overtime, spend more on raw materials or deliver their products on planes instead of boats.
Shanghai produces the majority of GE Healthcare’s contrast dyes, putting the product in a precarious position, Smith said. Businesses could think more globally and be better prepared for delays by purchasing products from around the world.
“It’s all coming from one place, and when you do that, your risk profile changes significantly,” Smith said.
GE Healthcare announced its Omnipaque product, a dye made with iodine, is manufactured in a single facility in Shanghai, causing an 80% reduction of supplies. The company is looking to transfer production to Europe to meet demand.
In Richmond, VCU Health has several strategies in place to preserve supply of contrast dye, spokesperson Laura Rossacher said. The hospital has used different imaging options and other contrast agents when possible. The system may postpone some nonurgent procedures that require the dye.
“Often this care is lifesaving,” Rossacher said. “We frequently use imaging studies with contrast for stroke patients and patients who have been in accidents with possible internal organ injuries, for example.”
HCA and Bon Secours hospitals in Virginia have not been affected by the shortage, spokespeople for the health systems said, nor do they expect to.
“We are currently working with other impacted health systems to identify ways in which we can support their patients,” Bon Secours spokesperson Jenna Green said.
HCA operates six hospitals in the Richmond area and Bon Secours has seven hospitals in central Virginia.
Some dyes are swallowed to detect bowel blockages or inflammation in the digestive tract. Others are inserted intravenously to look for broken blood vessels or aneurysms.
Using a PET scan, doctors can use the dye to determine if cancer has spread throughout the body.
Some hospitals are conserving the dyes they have on hand and considering different ways to image patients, said Julian Walker, spokesperson for the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. He could not say which other health systems are affected.
Some patients can be imaged with ultrasound, which uses soundwaves, and magnetic resonance imaging without dyes. Some CT scans can be used without contrast dye.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital said it would ration its use of the dye and delay some elective surgeries.
About 60% of CT scans use a contrast dye to illuminate parts of the body, KIRO-TV in Seattle reported.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch contributed to this report.
