Thomas Jefferson University contributes more papers to RSNA meeting than some European countries

Thomas Jefferson University occupies the top spot as the institution with the most scientific papers presented at the annual RSNA meeting over a 10-year period, followed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University. Jefferson's output topped that of the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland.

Dr. Unni K. Udayasankar and colleagues at Emory University and MGH analyzed RSNA databases to demonstrate trends regarding scientific abstracts presented from 1993 to 2004. They found that of the nearly 20,000 papers presented in this span of time, Jefferson researchers accounted for 503, MGH 436, and Stanford 342. Rounding out the top 10 are:

• Duke University: 325

• University of California, San Francisco: 321

• University of Michigan: 309

• University of Chicago: 300

• Brigham & Women's Hospital: 248

• Beth Israel Hospital, Boston: 247

• Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology: 243

"I knew we had a very strong presence at the RSNA, but this absolutely shocked me," said Dr. Vijay Rao, radiology chair at Jefferson. "To be above some of the most prestigious institutions in the country, the credit goes to the faculty. We hope we can keep up this achievement."

The subspecialty with the most papers was neuroradiology with 2526, or 13% of the total. Gastrointestinal with 2344 papers and vascular and interventional with 2052 came in second and third, respectively. The fewest number of papers occurred in emergency radiology (106), with only 10 papers presented from 1993 to 1997.

Other subspecialty rankings include:

• MSK: 1811 papers

• physics: 1805

• breast imaging: 1154

• chest: 1174

• genitourinary: 1153

Ultrasound, nuclear medicine, cardiac imaging, and pediatrics each had some 800 papers. Health sciences, policy, and research clocked in with 538, and informatics had 410.

Researchers found that papers in cardiac imaging had progressively increased toward the latter half of the observed period, while the number of ultrasound studies had decreased.

The majority of the presentations (61%) were from the U.S., while Germany represented the country outside the U.S. with the most number of papers (2296). Germany was followed by Japan (633), South Korea (616), Italy (553), and Canada (519). Rounding out the list were the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland.

This research appeared as an education exhibit at the 2006 RSNA meeting.

Scientific presentations at the RSNA meeting over the years peaked in 1995 with 1889 papers. (Provided by U. Udayasankar)