Robert Lavayssiere, MD

Diffusion MRI came under the microscope in Dr. Denis Le Bihan's plenary lecture at the French national congress, les Journées Françaises de Radiologie (JFR), held in Paris in October.

For years, the world of breast imaging was quite simple. Screen-film mammography and ultrasound did not leap ahead, but they did a satisfactory job for most women. In the past few years, the armamentarium has exploded, with the introduction of modalities from MRI to vacuum biopsy. The management of breast disease has changed significantly.

I entered private practice on a full-time basis in 1984, having quit my position in a state-run general hospital following a disagreement over lack of funding for continuing medical education. The imaging center that I joined had just been granted permission to buy a CT scanner. This would not be news today. But 20 years ago, establishment of a private CT center in Sarcelles, a suburban town 15 km north of Paris, was news indeed. CT scanners were scarce in France, and procedures required users to attain a certificate of need, which was a very cumbersome process.