SPOTLIGHT -
SPECT/CT Helps Staging and Risk Stratification of Thyroid Cancer
SPECT/CT, commonly used for imaging thyroid cancer after radioiodine therapy, was used before therapy to better identify and characterize the cancer.
Preop MRI Recommended for All New Breast Cancer Patients
Preoperative MRIs should be done on all newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, regardless of breast density.
Additional Imaging Recs in Oncologic PET/CT Reports Often Unnecessary
About half of additional imaging requests in oncologic PET/CT reports are unnecessary.
Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Cuts Recall Rate
Digital breast tomosynthesis plus mammography provides a 40 percent reduction in patient recalls, reducing anxiety and potentially cutting cost and overall radiation dose.
Automated Breast Ultrasound Far Faster than Hand-held
Researchers found ABUS takes three minutes of physician interpretation time compared with 20 to 30 minutes for hand-held ultrasounds.
Low-Dose Whole-Body CT Finds More Lesions in Multiple Myeloma Patients
The modality bests the U.S. standard of care, radiographic skeletal survey, in assessing the extent of the disease.
Patients with Diabetes Not at Highest Risk for Contrast-Induced Nephrotoxicity
New study challenges common belief and finds patients with a history of renal disease, hypertension or heart disease were more likely to suffer renal insufficiency.
MR Enterography Better in Detecting Fibrosis in Kids with Crohn’s Disease
MR enterography bests CT enterography, but CT enterography is faster, less expensive, and more widely available.
Guidelines Needed for CT After Inconclusive Abdominal Ultrasound
About a third of CT examinations performed following an inconclusive abdominal ultrasound have positive findings, and most are useful in diagnosing renal lesions.
Automated Breast Volume Sonography Improves Cancer Detection Among Asian Women
ABVS agreed with hand-held ultrasound in detecting 15 suspicious lesions, but also detected 12 additional lesions and excluded 12 lesions.
Radiologists Feel Less Knowledgeable on Health Policy Issues
Radiologists believe they are less competent than other physicians when it comes to patient imaging costs and patient safety.
Mammo Review Time Linked to Radiologist Confidence
Radiologists spend more time reviewing mammogram images from women who were called back for further investigation, and these images were interpreted with more confidence.
Emergency Department CT Use Up Among Children with Abdominal Pain
Use of CT scans on pediatric patients in emergency departments has risen between 1999 and 2007, despite no corresponding increase in ultrasound use.
Blanket Reimbursement Reductions for Imaging May Backfire
Health Affairs says imaging cuts will hurt needed testing, as well as redundant testing.
Functional MRI Brain Scans May Predict Weight Gain
If a patients shows strong response to images of food (or sex) in an fMRI, they are more likely to gain weight (or have more sex) in coming months, say researchers.
Shielding Patients Means Low Dose for Operators, Too
Lead shielding patients helps protect operators from radiation exposure during cardiac catheterization, but shielding is less effective for the radial approach than for the femoral approach.
CT Scan Should Follow Benign Fine Needle Biopsy of Lung Nodules
FNAs may produce too many false negatives. Follow up imaging suggested.
New MRI Technique May Predict Dementia Progress
Technique based on whole-brain tractography may predict progress of certain dementias, such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia.
Frequent Dental X-Rays Linked to Increased Brain Tumor Risk
Ionizing radiation from frequent dental X-rays may increase the risk of meningioma, researchers found.
Reimbursement Issues Plague Tomosynthesis Adoption
Tomosynthesis is an effective tool, but PACS integration and reimbursement issues are causing problems, a new study finds.
Insurance Coverage of CT Screening for Lung Cancer Cost Effective
CT screening for lung cancer could save thousands of lives if routinely covered by insurers, according to a Health Affairs study.
Obese Patients Exposed to Higher Radiation Levels
Increased tube potential for routine scans resulted in an increase of up to 62 percent in organ radiation exposure, compared with normal weight patients.
Continue Routine Screening After False-positive Mammo Result
Screening mammograms, often associated with false-positive results in breast cancer-free women, may indicate underlying pathology that still could result in breast cancer, researchers said.
Smartcard Helps Communicate Radiation Risks
The radiology department at the University of Colorado in Denver has developed pocket-sized reference card that provides the effective doses and radiation risks of common adult radiologic exams.
Ultrasound, MRI with Annual Mammo Effective
Adding ultrasound or MRI to annual mammography screening may benefit women at increased risk of breast cancer and dense breasts but might not be appropriate for women at intermediate risk.
Low Secondary Cancer Risk from CT Scans
Researchers found little risk for secondary cancers from multi-detector computed tomography among the Medicare population.
Routine Mammograms May Overdiagnose Breast Cancer
Routine mammograms do not reduce the incidence of late-stage breast cancer detection and may result in significant overdiagnosis of early breast cancers.
Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Doses Comparable to Mammography
Radiation doses from digital breast tomosynthesis is comparable to and could be lower than conventional two-view full-field digital mammography.
Lung Cancers Found by CT Similar to Those Found in Clinical Practice
There was concern that cancers diagnosed in routine screening were less aggressive than those found in routine practice.
Coronary CT Angiography in ED Safe for Chest Pain Assessments
CCTA is safe and effective, and saves time when assessing patients at low- to intermediate-risk of a heart attack.