Precise evaluation of cardiac and thoracic anatomy is mandatory for planning safe minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass. Three-D images obtained with CT angiography can help avoid surgical complications, minimize the need to switch to the standard surgical approach, and help determine the best surgical access.

Cardiac CT is moving closer to competing with MR in imaging damage to the myocardium caused by infarction.

If Prof. W.C. Roentgen were alive today, he would recognize the need for university hospital medical managers who can eliminate bureaucratic burdens, appreciate the heterogeneity of research, and preserve the freedom that creativity requires. He would heartily approve of managers who are committed to training physicians and scientists, focusing on improving patient care, and investing in the infrastructure of medical centers.

Two months after its acquisition of information technology specialist GWI, Agfa Healthcare was promoting its consolidation at the ECR as a decisive step in its transformation into a global healthcare IT company.

Although fundamental research in biomedical imaging remains a relatively obscure field, some observers believe the future of radiology depends largely on developments in this area.

Hormone replacement therapy is known to carry a risk of cardiovascular events. Researchers in China, however, have found that women taking HRT have significantly lower coronary calcium scores and significantly less coronary artery stenosis. They recommend cutting the standard HRT dosage by half so women can retain the positive benefits against osteoporosis, as well as reduce the risk for coronary heart disease.

Residual questions about vertebroplasty’s safety and efficacy were put to rest in Vienna Saturday. Dr. Giovanni C. Anselmetti, medical director of the Interventional Radiology Service of Candiolo, Italy, announced results at the ECR meeting of a seven-center trial covering 1580 vertebroplasty patients.

Primovist improves MR detection of liver lesions and can change the surgical management of patients in a substantial number of cases, according to the results of two studies presented at the ECR Friday. The data were part of a symposium sponsored by Schering, the developer of the liver-specific agent.

Being a specialist in cardiovascular imaging, I have followed the development of cardiac topics at the ECR since 1991. Tremendous changes have occurred over this period.

Provided cost-effectiveness issues can be resolved, whole-body imaging appears destined to enter everyday clinical practice as a comprehensive initial scanning method in oncology and other areas, according to an ECR presentation Friday.

Europe is debating the acceptance of a common legal framework, a single constitution, for all European nations. This is a challenge, as was the free circulation treaty and the introduction of the euro as a common currency. Through alternating moments of shake-up and tranquillity, Europe is advancing in stages toward unification.

Adding contrast media to high-energy digital mammography studies can generate clearer images of difficult-to-spot breast masses. The use of contrast and digital subtraction algorithms led to results similar in clarity to breast MR in a small investigational study by German researchers.

Health information technology is not just about wired physicians or better treatment for patients, said Dr. David Brailer, the first National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, at the HIMSS meeting’s closing session. It’s about treating the healthcare industry itself.

The push toward patient safety and technology effectiveness has begun to loosen the traditional boundaries between the worlds of information technology and clinical engineering.

In this era of robust information technology, systems should be improved to address the problems of human error in healthcare delivery, according to a participant in an e-session at the HIMSS meeting Wednesday. At the same time, solutions must be found for the critical problems of productivity in hospitals.

Certification of information technology products moved to the front burner last year, with the formation of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) dedicated to establishing a product certification process.

The electronic medical record provides an automated way to deal with the added complexity evaluators face as they attempt to measure not only what today’s medical residents know, but also how well they perform using that knowledge.

Today's technology makes it possible for increasingly large networks to share medical information, and HIMSS attendees received an inside look at one Tuesday: a regional collaborative initiative operated by the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium. The initiative promotes the interorganizational exchange of healthcare data using information technology, standards, and administrative simplification. The role of the collaborative is to deliver the goal in seven to 10 years.

In an update to its Composite HealthCare System patient record, the Department of Defense Military Health System has moved away from an institution-centered electronic medical record and toward a more centralized model that focuses on the patient.

If healthcare is willing to change its process and organization, the future can be exciting, Cisco president and CEO John Chambers told a keynote audience at the HIMSS meeting Tuesday morning.