MRI

MR imaging has a high sensitivity for detecting ductal carcinoma in situ and could play a complementary role to mammography in finding and evaluating this common type of cancer, according to a study published in Breast Journal.

A whole-body PET/CT scan can be used to stage and further pinpoint cancers spotted on optical colonoscopy, a research team for Essen University reported Monday. The team also reported that PET/CT scans may be useful in restaging recurrent breast cancer.

The most striking feature for me at ECR this year is the expansion of company-sponsored satellite meetings. Usually limited to lunch sessions, they now run in parallel to the proffered papers, competing with the scientific session marathon.

A small study from a breast cancer surveillance program of high-risk women found that annual MR imaging did not detect additional cancers beyond conventional screening with both mammography and clinical physical examination.

CT and MR angiography both provided more clinically useful information than duplex ultrasound in screening peripheral vascular disease. But when costs are factored in, CT emerged as the clear leader, according to a four-hospital study conducted in the Netherlands and described Saturday.

MR offers decided advantages as a tool for image guidance in radiofrequency ablation of liver tumors, but it also presents significant problems that must be overcome before its use becomes widespread, according to a pair of presentations March 5 at the European Congress of Radiology.

MR colonography has yet to capture radiologists’ imagination to the same extent as CT. But the radiation-free exam has a bright future, especially if stool tagging techniques can avoid the need for bowel cleansing, according to speakers from the U.S. and Greece at ECR on Friday.

As cancer is discovered earlier and therapy administered sooner, patients are living longer. The role of imaging in cancer is increasing, bringing radiologists closer to the heart of the multidisciplinary care team. A categorical course at the ECR explored this topic.

Iron oxide contrast agents could one day help identify vulnerable plaque in atherosclerosis patients, leading to therapies that could prevent heart attacks and strokes, according to a presenter at the ECR.

MR spectroscopy can help reduce breast MRI false positives, which tend to increase during certain times of the menstrual cycle, according to researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Philips Medical Systems has developed software that learns how technologists set up MR scans, then takes over for its human mentor.

Although musculoskeletal radiologists have long debated the relative roles of MRI and ultrasound in imaging shoulder injuries, they have reached consensus on a number of diagnostic algorithms. But the proliferation of inexpensive, low-end compact ultrasound systems has introduced a new controversy.

After reviewing the clinical literature on ultrasound imaging of the shoulder, Dr. David Stoller, director of musculoskeletal MRI at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, concluded that a significant amount of data was either flawed or inaccurate.

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

The Society of Nuclear Medicine's recently launched Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment Program offers online modules to help physicians comply with new maintenance of certification requirements, including 20 nuclear medicine-specific CME credits every year.

Scientists have known that meditation alters brain waves. New evidence suggests that the practice actually changes the brain's physical structure.

Celebrity endorsements sometimes stir controversy. The efforts of renowned poet and educator Maya Angelou to help Alzheimer’s disease research, however, come with blessings from the neuroimaging community.

Football coaches can’t foresee when their players might get injured. But musculoskeletal radiologists may predict who is going to hurt the most, and where.

Medical imaging is poised to play a key role in drug research, including evaluating therapy and characterizing disease.

Cognitively healthy elderly people who experience atrophy in the amygdala and hippocampus are more likely to develop dementia, according to a study in the January Archives of General Psychiatry.

This is one pinup calendar you probably won't find in your mechanic's garage. The "Big Brains on Campus" calendar features artistically enhanced MR brain scans of University of Illinois administrators, faculty, staff, and students. It serves as a promotion for the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

Advances in MR technology have improved the quality of abdominal MRI and hence the ability to assess intestinal diseases. Rapid acquisition sequences have reduced the incidence of motion artifacts from intestinal peristalsis, while the use of phased-array coils has increased spatial resolution. Several intestinal contrast agents have undergone extensive trials. Meanwhile, the use of sequences that modulate MRI signal selectively, for example by suppressing fat tissue signal, can improve gadolinium-related enhancement on T1-weighted images, as well as boosting T2 signal in pathologic tissues.

Contrast agents that can aid MRA examinations have been on the market for more than 15 years. Historically, radiologists could choose from a wide range of agents that, once injected intravenously, would flow through the extracellular space. They would then be excreted from the body relatively rapidly. These extracellular contrast agents are now being joined by a new class of blood pool, or intravascular, contrast agents that bind with molecules in the blood and stay in the circulation for longer.

The failure of MRA to make major inroads into coronary angiography is not due to lack of trying. Many different techniques have been attempted, often with encouraging results. Additional clinical trials, involving both healthy volunteers and patients, are ongoing. But promising research results in a controlled environment are no guarantee of clinical viability.

Contrast-enhanced MR angiography is the primary method of assessing vascular disease at many hospitals worldwide. While advances in technology ensure that CT angiography draws its share of devotees, MRA continues to win hearts and minds among radiologists who prefer the radiation-free imaging approach.