A funny thing happened on the way to the forum

Today was the kind of day I like at the RSNA meeting. I reviewed some old stuff, learned some new stuff, and had some great laughs.

I attended two very good courses, both part of the society's "Essentials of Radiology" program. These courses provide basic core material in a quick but thorough overview. I went to the pediatric and knee sessions. These are facts we should all have on the tips of our tongues, and now I will have them again for at least a day or two.

I spent several hours side-stepping the poster exhibit hall. Every year, I promise myself that next year I will spend the entire week in that hall. Where else can you study the latest information on any current topic in radiology, concisely and graphically presented, at your own pace?

There were several excellent presentations on CT brain perfusion imaging, a technique we're adding to our routine R/O stroke protocol. I saw a little poster comparing enhanced with nonenhanced abdominal CT on ER patients, which confirmed my belief that most (80%) of the time you should just go ahead and scan them, rather than delay them for IV and oral contrast. And while I never really thought about doing CT on a possum, now I know how.

I spent a couple of hours looking at the vendor exhibits. We're in the market for a new multislice CT, and like most radiologists, I have slice envy. Toshiba, GE, Philips, and Siemens all claim they're the best. They all look pretty good to me, but then I trained on an EMI.

There are a lot of exhibits for mammography equipment, software and promotional material. I find this interesting, since I don't know any radiologist in the universe who wants to do more mammo.