Diagnostic Imaging North America

January 2007

COVER STORY

By: H.A. Abella

• MSK interventions open burgeoning new field

DEPARTMENTS

Overread

• Guided thermal ablation topples adoption barriers
• Chocolate 'offenders' teach sweet lesson
• Careful fine art selection stimulates patient healing
• Choice of fracture fixes spurs radiology debate
• Eminent scientist bridges GI radiology's past, future
• RSNA foundation identifies biomed research queries
• Cryotherapy gains muscle in liver, lung malignancies

Newsclips

• FDA tightens its grip on handheld ultrasound
• PET shows link between endorphins, depression
• U.S. physicians say they feel down in the dumps
• Danish patients want more healthcare IT development
• Contrast MRA reduces cost for PVD diagnosis
• Osteoarthritis may signal speedier biological aging

Tech Watch

• Mobile CT device avoids hazards of ICU scanning
• Big teleradiology firms offer to share all their secrets

Agenda

• RSNA 2006 will be remembered for presentation of serious science

Cardiovascular Imaging

By: Richard Spira, M.D.

• Cardiac CTA should stay with radiologists

Musculoskeletal

By: Nathalie Boutry, M.D., and Anne Cotten, M.D.

• MRI, ultrasound offer hope to arthritis patients

Practice Management

By: Frank James Lexa, M.D., M.B.A.

• Accounting approach pairs costs, productivity

Neuroradiology

By: Ramon Palacios Bote, M.D., and Maria De Los Angeles Fernandez-Gil, M.D.

• MR imaging reveals signs of temporal lobe epilepsy

Perturbations

By: Eric Trefelner, M.D.

• Scanners can be tucked in plain brown wrappers

Special Sections

In Review

C. P. Kaiser

• Radiologists hear call to pursue cardiac imaging
• Pelvic MRI finds niche assessing infertile women
• Exam distinguishes benign from malignant lesions
• PET adds definition to brain tumor diagnostics
• Significant errors appear in voice recognition reports

James Brice

• Consensus remains elusive for best left ventricle test
• Coronary MSCT cuts rate of negative cardiac cath

Emily Hayes

• Price pressures haunt digital mammography
• Mammography growth falls in Medicare group
• Breast tomosynthesis hits workflow, dose obstacles
• Soaring ER CT use stirs appropriateness concerns

John C. Hayes

• RSNA programs exploit power of info networks
• CAD could pose bigger threat than offshoring

H.A. Abella

• Spotty performance aside, lung CAD proves useful
• MSK imaging, intervention head for explosive growth
• CE ultrasound broadens scope of clinical utility

Bradley M. Tipler, M.D.

• Professionalism talks start meeting off right