Mild skin reactions are a not infrequent delayed adverse outcome of contrast-enhanced CT, according to a prospective study from the University of California, Davis.

Genitourinary scientific papers to be released at the 2009 RSNA meeting underscore attempts to address diagnostic challenges as old as the subspecialty itself by taking advantage of recent technological developments.

Cardiac imaging researchers are expanding the scope of topics considered at the 2009 RSNA meeting to include iodinated contrast media administration as a safety issue and clinical outcomes studies that weigh the relative merits of cost and clinical efficacy.

Rather than retreating after the hard blow handed them by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which refused to grant reimbursement for the application in May, CT colonography researchers will arrive at the 2009 RSNA meeting with more of what CMS wants: hard data.

The evolution of neuroradiological research from anatomy to biochemistry can be seen in the frequency with which MRI techniques have led to research that will be presented at the 2009 RSNA meeting. Nearly all of the hottest papers this year employ some form of physiological or metabolic imaging.

Musculoskeletal scientific sessions at the RSNA meeting will address the use of dual-energy CT in multiple settings, including the possibility of combined heart and bone density scans. Submitted papers also show the use of dual-energy CT for imaging other indications, such as gout.

RSNA meeting attendees can expect health services scientific sessions to focus on quality, according to the committee chair. The sessions will define quality and how radiologists can work on the entire care experience.

Developers of CT scanners have been trying to adapt their technology to breast imaging for decades. They have drawn a step closer, thanks to the efforts of researchers at the University of California, Davis. Their efforts may lead to the ability to not only visualize but treat breast cancer.

Partners Healthcare System in Boston has boosted CT contrast safety and saved money through a unique program that integrates contrast policies into the six-hospital system’s electronic medical records system, according to a new report.

Medication errors may arise less often in a busy hospital radiology department than in other inpatient services, but they can cause more serious damage when they do happen. Radiologists at Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center came to these conclusions after evaluating 27 months of high-tech medical imaging experience. They used their data to identify the causes of errors and devise strategies to address them.

Dose reduction will be among Siemens’ key messages at the RSNA meeting this year. Driving home this message will be IRIS (iterative reconstruction in image space), a proprietary algorithm that processes raw data acquired by CTs, according to André Hartung, Siemens vice president, CT Marketing and Sales.

With years of slice wars behind them, vendors will argue that image quality and dose reduction are this year’s dominant issues in CT. Most of their arguments will be rooted in past developments.

Based on on a database with more than 100,000 submitted cases, modifications to the international system for staging non-small cell lung cancer promise to more closely reflect the connection between disease progression and the patient's prospects for survival.

The new generation of wide CT detectors provides expanded coverage, allowing faster scans and even dynamic imaging of organs, including heart and brain. There are disadvantages, said Dr. Mathias Prokop, speaking May 19 at the 11th International Symposium on Multidetector Row CT, but these are minor in comparison.

A smorgasbord of challenges face radiology but few present a greater threat than the “invisible radiologist,” said Dr. Gary Glazer, chairman of the Stanford University radiology department, who kicked off the 11th International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT.

As with any competition, the value of the Workstation Face-Off at this year’s International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT will reveal itself during the course of the event.

Over the past quarter century, exposure to ionizing radiation from medical procedures in the U.S. has grown sevenfold, according to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. CT is a major source.

In the boom leading up to sequencing of the human genome, genetics and legal experts debated the ownership of the data contained within the double helix. Now, as the U.S. readies for a surge into healthcare IT, a similar debate has broken out over EMRs. The outcome could be critical to making the best use of the huge amount of electronic medical information that the Obama Administration’s stimulus funding will create in the next few years.

Time is running out on Medicare, said economist Alan Greenspan in a keynote address to a capacity crowd at HIMSS09. Nearly 7000 attendees of the conference heard the former Fed Chairman explain how political expediency going back more than two decades ago led to the present-day inadequately funded federal healthcare program. Greenspan tagged healthcare IT as a possible means for getting out of this trouble.

The debate over “meaningful use” has begun. At stake is nothing less than the success of President Obama’s initiative to turn paper into electronic medical records.