MRI

Dr. Fred L. Steinberg and his imaging centers and related entities in Palm Beach County near Miami will pay $7 million to settle alleged violations of federal Stark self-referral law and anti-kickback statutes. He was also charged with billing fraud.

New evidence has surfaced pinpointing specific potential causes of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Findings sustain its relationship to some gadolinium-based contrast media, but they also suggest that infection, certain patient demographics, and even some drugs could be strongly associated with the condition.

Widespread muscle and tissue pain, tenderness, and fatigue are well-documented symptoms of fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that affects up to an estimated 6% of the U.S. population. The underlying pathology of the pain disease is unknown. A new study featuring proton MR spectroscopy, however, has found a key linkage between the pain and a specific brain molecule.

A recent “Sentinel Alert” from the Joint Commission addressing the prevention of accidents and injuries in the MRI suite stated:

Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis has received widespread attention, but official protocols on how to avoid the life-threatening skin condition are quite sparse: Only one section in the American College of Radiology’s 2007 white paper on safe MR practices is devoted to the condition.

Force feedback shows potential for tissue segmentation and interventional planning

Protocol Could Widen Three-Hour Treatment Window

Reduced access to radiologists forces self-reliance for patient care and preoperative surgical planning

Traditional reliance on physical symptoms leads to surgery after heart has already been damaged

Cardiac CT reimbursement controversy underscores growing demand for definitive trials that establish efficacy of emerging technologies

Good results require thorough patient preparation, dual positioning during imaging, and experienced readers

Monitoring water mobility offers an approach to cancer imaging that complements anatomy-based techniques

Any fluid-filled cavity or sac that is lined by an epithelium is a cyst, and intracranial cystic lesions are a common finding on CT and MR imaging of the brain.1,2 These lesions contain either cerebrospinal fluid, fluid that is similar to CSF, mucus, or proteinaceous fluid. They are lined by epithelial cells, inflammatory cells, or glial cells. The attenuation characteristics of the cyst on CT and MRI and the contrast enhancement patterns depend on the cyst's contents and the composition of the wall.

Results from two clinical trials demonstrate that cryoablation of renal cell carcinomas is effective at least a year after treatment in nearly all patients with lesions 4 cm or smaller. The studies suggest that cryotherapy could serve as an alternative to surgery.

The discovery process for more than 60 federal lawsuits alleging a connection between cases of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and gadolinium-based MR contrast agents will be consolidated at a single district court in Ohio, according to a U.S. judicial panel. Centralization will accelerate the discovery process and give plaintiffs access to a wider pool of pretrial information.

Give me a good gadget and I’m happy. I think a lot of people in radiology would say the same thing. It’s the reason crowds gathered 15 years ago to see 3D reconstructions revolving aimlessly in space. It’s why MR was a hit in the early 1980s.

Cardiac MR imaging with delayed gadolinium enhancement can detect silent myocardial fibrosis and other cardiac abnormalities in patients with systemic sclerosis, German researchers told attendees of a cardiac session in Vienna.

Whole-body MRI is more sensitive but less specific than FDG-PET/CT for cancer detection, according to researchers from China and Europe. Findings suggest a complementary rather than exclusive role in oncologic imaging for both modalities and validate recent studies suggesting close follow-up since either test can miss metastases.

Marathon runners 50 years or older may face a higher than expected risk of sudden cardiovascular accidents. MR imaging with late gadolinium enhancement may help identify these athletes in time to keep them from potentially deadly episodes, according to German researchers reporting at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology in Vienna.

The relationship between gadolinium-based contrast media for MRI and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis may be more nuanced than previously thought, according to several studies presented Friday at the 2008 ECR.

Marathon runners 50 years or older may face a higher than expected risk of sudden cardiovascular accidents. MR imaging with late gadolinium enhancement may help identify these athletes in time to keep them from potentially deadly episodes, according to German researchers.

Radiologists must develop strategies for participating in the new age of imaging-based research. They need to join interdisciplinary teams, develop core imaging facilities for host institutions, involve themselves in small-animal imaging facilities, enter clinical research programs, and learn about PET and molecular imaging, which are at the core of pharmaceutical development.

Delegates caught a glimpse of the future of radiological technology at Sunday’s “ESR meets Israel” session.Israel may be relatively a small nation, with a population of just seven million, but it is making important contributions to innovation. About 900 companies are developing new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare IT products. The majority of these businesses are relatively young and are supported by venture capital funding.

Interest in multimodality imaging shows no sign of abating. New tracers are opening up the range of clinical applications, while novel technological solutions are paving the way for yet more modality marriages, according to speakers at Sunday’s special focus session on hybrid imaging.

Days spent sitting in lecture theatres and seminar rooms, long hikes from scientific sessions to the exhibition hall with a briefcase under one arm and a weighty conference bag on the other shoulder, evenings hunched over a laptop putting the final touches to the next day’s presentation… It could be argued that attending ECR is a recipe for backache.

The controversial topic of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis drew a large crowd to a special focus session at the ECR. Delegates queued to quiz speakers about their recommendations for avoidance of the condition, ensuring a lively panel discussion.

Novel concepts and approaches are essential to speed up MRI examinations. Furthermore, pushing speed limits does not just mean doing the same things quicker -- new application areas must also be found.