OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of intravenously applied gadolinium-based contrast medium in computed tomographic (CT) studies. METHODS Serial dilutions of iohexol 300, Gd-DTPA and gadodiamide were scanned with CT in a phantom study using water filled tubes. For quantification of x-ray attenuation, the mean Hounsfield units (HU) were calculated from the CT scans. Five patients with contraindications against iodine contrast agents were examined with abdominal or thoracic CT before and after application of 0.2 mmol/kg body weight of a gadolinium-based contrast agent. In these patients attenuation values were obtained in ROI from unenhanced and enhanced CT scans. RESULTS The phantom study revealed a 38.4% enhancement for Gd-DTPA and a 35.7% enhancement for gadodiamide scaled on the reference measurements with iohexol 300. Thus, 130.2 ml Gd-DTPA or 140.1 ml gadodiamide are needed to achieve the same attenuation as an i.v. injection of 50 ml iohexol 300. Consequently the corresponding dose of 1 mmol/kg body weight would exceed the manufacturer's recommended dose. In four patients with complete thoracic or abdominal CT, i.v. applied gadolinium-based contrast medium (0.2 mmol/kg) yielded no visible advantage. In these patients parenchymal enhancement did not exceed 25%. Dynamic CT of a patient with focal liver lesion revealed an arterial enhancement peak of 75%. CONCLUSIONS Sufficient parenchymal enhancement in CT studies cannot be achieved with the available gadolinium-based contrast mediums. They might be helpful if only short time vascular enhancement is required.