MRI

In the wake of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving every year, a city rises within the confines of Chicago's McCormick Place. It is a kind of radiological Epcot Center, a futuristic vision designed to dazzle; constructed of software, heavy iron, and handhelds; and swathed in platitudes.

Expert-i promises the ultimate expression of teleradiology: the control of MR scans being performed rather than simply the ability to read the results after the fact.

Neuroradiologists understand that high-grade tumors interrupt the blood-brain barrier, which presents as contrast enhancement on CT and MRI. Renewed interest in the phenomenon of permeability, however, has researchers looking beyond simple contrast enhancement and toward molecular mechanisms involved in permeability that may help them treat brain tumors more effectively.

Since the introduction of cardiac catheterization in the 1940s, development and implementation of cardiovascular imaging techniques have been a collaborative effort among several specialties, particularly radiology and cardiology. Many pioneers in CV imaging have held joint appointments.

On the same day that New York researchers received the top honor at the RSNA meeting for their poster detailing the benefits of an infection imaging agent, the drug's maker issued a warning about two deaths and additional serious adverse events attributed to the drug's use. The admonition was released by Tyco Mallinckrodt Healthcare, which markets NeutroSpec (technetium-99m fanolesomab), a monoclonal antibody-labeled radiopharmaceutical agent approved in the U.S. for the diagnosis of equivocal appendicitis.

Last year, an obese women in New York City claimed that her doctor suggested she go to the Bronx Zoo for an MRI because of her girth. Zoo officials, according to the New York Post, later said they had no elephant-sized MR machines onsite.

Carotid artery stenting does more than help prevent strokes. It could also improve thought processes in some patients, according to German researchers.

Neuroimaging techniques are revealing the impact of chronic smoking on alcohol dependence, with implications for treatment.

Your investment portfolio isn’t performing very well, and you’re beginning to wonder about some of your stock choices. Perhaps an fMR scan can help you get a better grip on the situation.

In a laborious clinical trial that involved hauling a mobile MR scanner over land and sea to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, British researchers used T2* imaging to confirm the value of a new drug treatment for Β-thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder.

Traditional polygraph tests to determine whether someone is lying may take a back seat to fMRI, according to a study in the February issue of Radiology. Researchers from Temple University Hospital used fMRI to show how specific areas of the brain light up when a person tells a lie.

MR is going to the dogs … and cats … and horses … maybe the occasional gorilla.

Who will speak for cardiac CT? No one, when the setting is the annual business meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.

Perfusion and delayed-enhancement MR imaging played a central role in a recent randomized double-blinded controlled trial investigating the effect of intra-arterial stem cell transfer on the global left ventricular function of patients following myocardial infarction.

Delayed-enhancement cardiac MR imaging has been widely adopted as a powerful test for predicting the success of revascularization for heart attack patients. DE-MRI can significantly improve risk stratification of dilated cardiomyopathy patients as well, according to results of a prospective trial reported at the ninth annual meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance held in Miami Jan. 20 to 22.

In 1997, while visiting the University of Washington, I dropped in on the Human Interface Technology Laboratory, known to the locals simply as HITLab. What drew me there was research into a surgical simulator. But what captured my imagination was a project exploring the concept of “virtual space” and an offshoot called “telesavance.”

When a particular joke goes over well with one sex and not the other, you might chalk it up to biology. Apparently, there are differences in humor appreciation between the sexes.

Radiofrequency ablation is as effective as resection for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, according to a study presented at the joint RSNA/SIR Foundation Interventional Oncology Symposium. The key factor is RFA's ability to easily repeat treatment on recurring tumors in a less destructive fashion than surgery.

Could patients with possible biliary and/or pancreatic disease soon be offered a pina colada before imaging? Not quite, but a team of Belgian radiologists has started serving pineapple juice labeled with gadolinium to boost the quality of its MR cholangiopancreatography scans.

In the wake of Thanksgiving every year, a city rises within the confines of McCormick Place. It is a kind of radiological Epcot Center, a futuristic vision designed to dazzle; constructed of software, heavy iron, and handhelds; and swathed in platitudes.

Two different advanced MRI techniques can help clinicians choose epilepsy patients who will favorably respond to surgical intervention, according to a pair of studies published in the October 2005 issue of Neurology.

Tensor imaging and tractography are diffusion-based MR techniques for advanced functional imaging of brain white matter.1 Imaging brain anisotropy can yield useful information about white matter integrity and demonstrate pathology occult to conventional imaging techniques. Anisotropy imaging can also provide information about ordered white matter (WM) tracts such as directional orientation and connectivity, which can be critical in surgical planning and useful in the understanding of certain developmental and acquired disease states.

On the same day that New York researchers received the top honor at the RSNA meeting for their poster detailing the benefits of an infection imaging agent, the drug's maker issued a warning about two deaths and additional serious adverse events attributed to its use. The admonition was released by Tyco Mallinckrodt Healthcare, which markets NeutroSpec (technetium-99m fanolesomab), a monoclonal antibody-labeled radiopharmaceutical agent approved in the U.S. for the diagnosis of equivocal appendicitis.

Most orthopedic implants and materials do not pose problems for patients undergoing MRI procedures. MRI may be hazardous for external fixation systems, however, because of the length of the implant or the formation of a conductive loop.

Researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have performed real-time functional cardiac MRI in two fetuses. It is the first time this technique has been reported, and it may represent an advance over the current gold standard of fetal echocardiography.

Heavy use of marijuana may put adolescents who are genetically predisposed to schizophrenia at greater risk of developing the brain disorder, according to a study presented at the 2005 RSNA meeting.

Cognitively healthy elderly people who experience atrophy in the amygdala and hippocampus have a good chance of developing dementia, according to a study from the Netherlands in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Hyperpolarized helium-3 diffusion MR can detect alveolar changes due to lung disease in children and provide quantitative data on airflow to the peripheral lobes, according to research presented at the RSNA meeting.

Early diagnosis of femoro-acetabular impingement syndrome could prevent degenerative arthritis of the hip. It may keep young patients from potentially expensive, and possibly disastrous, invasive treatment interventions, according to research presented at the RSNA meeting.

Philips Medical Solutions wants operators of its MR scanners to work smarter, not harder. To help, the company developed SmartExam.