Cardiac MRI

A new SPECT cardiac imaging system that uses a cadmium zinc telluride-based high-speed, high-resolution camera dramatically reduces imaging time for patients while also reducing radiation exposure.

Computer-aided detection software developed especially for coronary CT angiography could boost imagers' ability to rule out clinically relevant stenosis in patients at low to moderate risk of coronary artery disease, according to researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Electrocardiogram-gated tube modulation is essential to lower radiation dose in fusion imaging.

Coronary artery calcium scanning predicts the risk of myocardial infarction and sudden death accurately enough to guide the selection of diagnostic tests for symptomatic patients, according to a multicenter prospective study.

Increasing CT scanning speeds and image resolution combined with automated injection and optimized protocols tailored to specific patient features could reduce iodinated contrast media needed for coronary CT angiography by at least half, according to several papers presented at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

Bracco Diagnostics sees opportunity in the latest decision by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to reimburse more for PET procedures in 2010.

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.

Electrocardiogram-gated tube modulation is essential to lower radiation dose in fusion imaging.

Findings from a large multicenter study by U.S. researchers suggest 64-slice CT angiography is better suited to detect nonobstructive but otherwise clinically relevant coronary artery plaques in patients with diabetes than are other cardiac diagnostic tests.

Cardiovascular MR imaging has become a valuable diagnostic modality.

Results from the first Cardiac CT Board Examination suggest that clinical experience is what counts the most toward making the grade.

Findings from a Washington, DC, study suggest that cardiac CT performed before repeat cardiac surgical revascularization may lead to safer and more cost-effective operations. Preoperative CT was also linked to a higher likelihood of improved peri- and postoperative outcomes in these patients.

Radiologists and cardiologists who meet image interpretation requirements for cardiac CT competence certification do equally well on the test, according to results of the first Cardiac CT Board Examination. Board exam results also hint that actual clinical experience counts more toward passing scores than does medical education.

The last decade has seen rapid advances in our technological capability to image the heart noninvasively.

Cardiovascular MR (CVMR) imaging has become a valuable diagnostic modality.

Multislice CT angiography can save lives by identifying occult congenital cardiac anomalies and disease that could lead to sudden cardiac death among competitive athletes.

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A Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan consortium has shown that adopting common radiation reduction techniques can help community-based cardiac CT practices break the habit of exposing patients to extraordinary amounts of radiation.

For years, high radiation dose exposure has been the bogeyman that kept the cardiac CT triple rule-out exam for chest pain from widespread application. That concern has been addressed with the use of radiation dose reduction techniques, according to a Thomas Jefferson University study.

PET, SPECT, MRI, and even x-ray-based modalities are helping researchers learn how to use stem cells to restore the pumping power of injured hearts. The modalities factor into plans to track stem cell delivery, survival, and replication during clinical use, making them essential for research.

An international clinical trial involving 50 healthcare facilities and nearly 2000 patients has found that physicians often do not apply available dose reduction strategies in procedures, resulting in a wide variation in radiation exposure.

Doctors from China, Japan, India, and Australia have strengthened DI Asia Pacific's Editorial Advisory Board.

The American College of Radiology Imaging Network will expand its research scope beyond cancer to add applications that advance clinical care in areas such as neuro and cardiovascular imaging.

More than eight years of data from nearly 500 patients suggest that frequent monitoring with CT to look for complications after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms is unnecessary and that it could be done instead with ultrasound.