Radiologists behind increase in percutaneous thoracic biopsies, resulting in fewer invasive biopsies.
Radiologists are increasingly responsible for thoracic diagnosis as they perform more thoracic biopsies than ever before, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, Penn., sought to examine the utilization rate of various types of thoracic biopsies within the Medicare population. Primary claims submitted percutaneous thoracic biopsy, bronchoscopic thoracic biopsy, and surgical thoracic biopsy between 1998 and 2010 were reviewed. There were 176,125 total thoracic biopsies in 1998 and a drop to 167,911 (-4.7 percent) in 2010. There was a decrease from 5.47 per 1,000 in 1998 to 4.76 per 1,000 (−13.0%) in 2010 for all thoracic biopsies. There was an increase in percutaneous biopsy of 3.6 percent, decrease in surgical biopsy by 29.0 percent, and decrease in bronchoscopic biopsy by 19.6 percent. “In 2010, radiologists performed 96.4 percent (58,679) of all percutaneous biopsies,” the authors wrote. “Radiologists' thoracic biopsy market share increased from 26.2 percent (46,084 of 176,125) in 1998 to 35.0 percent (58,700 of 167,911) in 2010 (+33.6%).” The researchers concluded that radiologists are responsible for the increasing role of thoracic diagnosis, which may be the result of changing trends to less invasive procedures, differing patterns of reimbursement, and increased availability of percutaneous biopsy.
MRI-Based AI Radiomics Model Offers 'Robust' Prediction of Perineural Invasion in Prostate Cancer
July 26th 2024A model that combines MRI-based deep learning radiomics and clinical factors demonstrated an 84.8 percent ROC AUC and a 92.6 percent precision-recall AUC for predicting perineural invasion in prostate cancer cases.
Breast MRI Study Examines Common Factors with False Negatives and False Positives
July 24th 2024The absence of ipsilateral breast hypervascularity is three times more likely to be associated with false-negative findings on breast MRI and non-mass enhancement lesions have a 4.5-fold likelihood of being linked to false-positive results, according to new research.
Can Polyenergetic Reconstruction Help Resolve Streak Artifacts in Photon Counting CT?
July 22nd 2024New research looking at photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) demonstrated significantly reduced variation and tracheal air density attenuation with polyenergetic reconstruction in contrast to monoenergetic reconstruction on chest CT.