Diagnostic Imaging Vol 31 No 1

January 01, 2009

At 1186 pages, much of it in agate (very small) type, the RSNA 2008 program book is a pretty imposing document. Few people or organizations can claim to have reviewed most of it. But the Diagnostic Imaging news team did.

January 01, 2009

The California Department of PublicHealth has determined that excessiveradiation exposure to a two-year-oldboy who was allegedly subjected to151 CT scans while in the machinefor 65 minutes, leaving him with radiationburns on his face and head, wasdue to “operator error” by the radiologictechnologist.

January 01, 2009

If it's free, highly relevant to radiology, and on the Internet, you can probably gain access to it through the site www.radiologyeducation.com, thanks to the wife and husband team of Drs. Donna and Michael D'Alessandro.

January 01, 2009

Radiologists hoped the introduction of isoosmolarcontrast media would eliminatesevere adverse reactions to x-ray contrast.Alas, it was not to be.

January 01, 2009

Despite data indicating PET can influence the management of cancer patients regardless of their cancer type, National Oncologic PET Registry scientists faced a setback when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reviewed a request for expanded coverage.

January 01, 2009

A Taiwanese study suggests multislice CT chest studies should be routinely performed, especially during follow-up exams, for some head and neck cancer patients.

January 01, 2009

A big drop in exhibitor attendance led to an overall 5% decline in the number ofpeople who attended the 2008 RSNA meeting. Audited totals released by the RSNAafter the end of sessions on Dec. 5 indicate that 58,795 people attended the weeklongscientific assembly and meeting.

January 01, 2009

Multislice CT coronary angiography is becoming a practical alternative to conventionalangiography.

January 01, 2009

Radiologists should take much greater care over the patient information contained in their PowerPoint files, according to researchers from the University of Michigan.

January 01, 2009

Motivated by a $5000 bonus, radiologistsat Massachusetts GeneralHospital completed scan signoffs in afraction of the usual time.

January 01, 2009

CT colonography can screen for both colorectal cancer and osteoporosis reliably at minimal additional cost and time, according to a study at San Francisco VA Hospital.

January 01, 2009

Having mastered the basic process of digitizing, storing, and retrieving medical images and reports, radiologists are now turning their attention to analyzing vast collections of the data to uncover clinical and practice trends.

January 01, 2009

January 01, 2009

As percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stent placement replace bypass surgery in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease, cardiologists and surgeons now are performing far more of the procedures than radiologists

January 01, 2009

Dr. Stephan Miller and colleagues at the University of Tübingen in Germany have discovered that silent myocardial infarction raises the likelihood of a future major cardiac event for 14% of patients with symptomatic peripheral vascular disease evaluated with MRA.

January 01, 2009

The creators of CT screening colonographyhave not waited for the medicalestablishment and insurers to accept itas an alternative to optical colonoscopy.

January 01, 2009

Radiation dose reduction was a dominanttheme at the 2008 RSNA scientificassembly.

January 01, 2009

A large Italian study suggests that ultrasoundcan predict the risk of stroke in mostlyasymptomatic patients based on theassessment of carotid artery plaque morphology,not just the degree of stenosis.Sonographic surveillance of plaque evolutioncould boost stroke prevention.

January 01, 2009

New York University neuroscientists and economists have combined functional MRI with behavioral economic research to discover why people tend to overbid for products sold at auction: fear of losing a social competition.

January 01, 2009

Unexpected findings from a study ofNorwegian women who have and have notreceived routine biennial screening mammographysuggest some breast cancers mayspontaneously regress.

January 01, 2009

"Arrrgh!! Two hours onthis motor vehicle accidentcase with CTs ofthe head, face, chest, abdomen,pelvis, lower extremities, andcervical, thoracic, and lumbarspine for numerous injuries, andnow I find out the patient hasno insurance. He'll be in theICU-studied every day-formonths, and we won't get acent."

January 01, 2009

The Alliance for Radiation Safety inPediatric Imaging is expanding thescope of its Image Gently campaign.Efforts to protect children from unnecessaryexposure to CT scanningradiation won an endorsement byCareCore National, a radiology benefitsmanagement company that willapply the campaign's guidelines to itsnetwork.

January 01, 2009

For most of the past 15 years or so, radiologistsjoining the digital revolution havefocused on getting their images into thePACS-and out again, properly annotated witha report. For many today, that's still the primaryfunction of a RIS and PACS.

January 01, 2009

The makers of CT and MR scanners opened the spigot of new introductions at RSNA 2008. They flooded the exhibit floor with products: some premium systems, others optimized to hit particular price points or address clinical niches.

January 01, 2009

Physicians and insurers have joined forces in Minnesota to create an entry decision-support system that promises to improve the quality of physician referrals for high-tech medical imaging while linking the process to webbased electronic medical records.

January 01, 2009

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death inU.S. men, second only to lung cancer. During2008, an estimated 186,320 new cases of prostatecancer will be diagnosed in the U.S.

January 01, 2009

Millions of adults who suffer from chronic pain may no longer need to bear the added burden of wondering if their discomfort originates from a condition called fibromyalgia rather than depression or anxiety.

January 01, 2009

During 18 years as a radiologic technologist, JeffCrowley acknowledged he sometimes thought,"Oh, I can do that," while assisting withprocedures.

January 01, 2009

Not long ago, our approach to treating difficultmetastatic tumors was to “spray and pray.” Weknew that chemotherapy and other traditionaltreatment approaches could cause great damageand had a limited chance of successfully destroyingthe entire tumor.

January 01, 2009

January 01, 2009

Cardiac imaging researchers are validatingbroader clinical roles for 64-slice and dual-source CT while introducingthe radiological world to evenmore powerful machines that promiseto lower radiation exposure andimprove resolution.

January 01, 2009

Radiologists were urged at the RSNA meeting to combat distortedreports about cardiac CT radiation exposure that raiseunreasonable public anxiety about the risk of medical imaging.

January 01, 2009

Ultrasound has long been an efficient and usefuladjunct technique for breast imaging. It is thefirst modality to be proposed in some situations:if a young or pregnant woman has a palpablemass, for example, or immediately after surgery.

January 01, 2009

Not long ago, our approach to treating difficultmetastatic tumors was to "spray and pray." Weknew that chemotherapy and other traditionaltreatment approaches could cause great damageand had a limited chance of successfully destroyingthe entire tumor.