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February 2008 Blog Posts (63)

Studies establish primacy of uterine fibroid embolization for most patients

February 29, 2008 Studies establish primacy of uterine fibroid embolization for most patients Sarah Jersild -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two major studies have concluded that uterine artery embolization is as good as or better than hysterectomy for treatment of uterine fibroids. Embolization patients recovered faster and were hospitalized for less time than patients who underwent hysterectomy or myomectomy. Complication rates and quality of… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 29, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Covering daily news for radiologists keeps this reporter alive and kicking

February 29, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Covering daily news for radiologists keeps this reporter alive and kicking H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For a guy like me—a non-native speaker of English—writing daily news stories for U.S. radiologists can be a pretty frightening experience. But just as some people enjoy skydiving and others running with bulls in Spain, I get my adrenaline rush from my job. There is absolutely nothing that… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 29, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

fMRI sheds light on diagnosis and management of autism

February 28, 2008 fMRI sheds light on diagnosis and management of autism H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Functional MRI can identify brain activity patterns unique to people with autism spectrum disorders, according to a study published in February. Findings suggest that fMRI-based measurements could improve the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions. Public and scientific interest in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 28, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

WINDS satellite may launch teleradiology into new orbit

February 27, 2008 WINDS satellite may launch teleradiology into new orbit Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The launch of the experimental Japanese WINDS satellite February 23 could also boost teleradiology into a new ultrahigh-speed communication era. If the technology proves successful, the geostationary Ka-band communications satellite would offer Internet speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps. Such a backbone would address many bandwidth… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 27, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Trial finds perfusion-diffusion mismatch can expand time available for tPA stroke treatment

February 27, 2008 Trial finds perfusion-diffusion mismatch can expand time available for tPA stroke treatment H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Results of a much-anticipated study gauging tissue plasminogen activator's impact on acute stroke patients with MRI-diagnosed penumbra mismatch suggest it is effective up to six hours after the onset of stroke and its administration could lead to improved clinical outcomes in some patients.… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 27, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Quality review center meets multi-institutional PACS challenges

February 27, 2008 Quality review center meets multi-institutional PACS challenges Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the major challenges in providing management of imaging studies for multi-institutional clinical trials is accommodating image files created by a variety of PACS. The Quality Assurance Review Center, a research program within the University of Massachusetts Medical School that supports several National Cancer… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 27, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Resources describe NSF risks from gadolinium MR contrast media use

February 26, 2008 Resources describe NSF risks from gadolinium MR contrast media use James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Several new resources offer radiologists, nephrologists, and other clinicians answers to many questions associated with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and gadolinium-based MRI contrast. Directed by nephrologist Dr. Richard Swartz, University of Michigan researchers have confirmed a strong association between NSF and… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 26, 2008 at 10:30am — No Comments

Lower cost ultrasound beats gold standard in assessment of psoriatic arthritis

February 26, 2008 Lower cost ultrasound beats gold standard in assessment of psoriatic arthritis Wendy Despain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Standard musculoskeletal ultrasound is better than gold standard radiography at detecting overall joint pathology in the hands and feet of patients with psoriatic arthritis. MR imaging showed marginally better sensitivity at detecting joint effusions and synovitis, while radiography detected more erosions… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 26, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Cheap drug protects against CT contrast-induced nephropathy

February 26, 2008 Cheap drug protects against CT contrast-induced nephropathy H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the number of patients undergoing contrast-enhanced CT scans grows, so does the risk of contrast-induced nephropathy. What can physicians do to protect their patients from kidney damage? Ask them to pop an N-acetylcysteine pill before the exam, according to a study by University of Michigan Medical School researchers.… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 26, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Sonographer experience translates into fewer unnecessary ovarian tumor surgeries

February 25, 2008 Sonographer experience translates into fewer unnecessary ovarian tumor surgeries Allison Fromm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unnecessary surgeries for suspected, but ultimately benign, ovarian tumors could be reduced if ultrasonography is improved, according to a recent report in The Lancet Oncology. The study showed that the number of surgeries for suspected cancers was significantly higher after routine ultrasounds compared… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 25, 2008 at 10:30am — No Comments

MRI detects occult breast cancer in Paget’s disease patients

February 22, 2008 MRI detects occult breast cancer in Paget’s disease patients Marjorie Preston -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Women with Paget's disease of the nipple can be more assured that MRI will detect otherwise hidden malignancies, leading to opportunities for breast conserving therapy, following research from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Paget's disease of the nipple is a rare type of carcinoma that… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 22, 2008 at 10:30am — No Comments

Multiphoton microscope tracks plaques in mouse model

February 21, 2008 Multiphoton microscope tracks plaques in mouse model Don Rauf -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long considered a sentinel factor for Alzheimer's disease, beta-amyloid proteins can accumulate in the brain in aggregations called senile plaques with amazing speed, affecting neurodegeneration just as readily, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School. Using in vivo multiphoton microscopy, Dr. Bradley Hyman and coleagues… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 21, 2008 at 10:30am — No Comments

Ultrasound predicts spontaneous onset of labor and successful delivery in prolonged pregnancies

February 20, 2008 Ultrasound predicts spontaneous onset of labor and successful delivery in prolonged pregnancies Wendy Despain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultrasound assessment of cervical length in first pregnancies past 41 weeks can serve as an independent predictor of the likelihood of spontaneous labor and successful vaginal delivery. Cervical length was shorter in women who experienced spontaneous onset of labor. Dr. P. Vankayalapati… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 20, 2008 at 10:30am — No Comments

Report from SCMR: Delayed enhancement predicts post−revascularization procedure risk

February 19, 2008 Report from SCMR: Delayed enhancement predicts post−revascularization procedure risk James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A cardiac MRI study measuring the risk of death and myocardial infarction from surgically induced myocardial damage bolsters a growing argument encouraging clinicians to use caution when deciding to revascularize asymptomatic heart patients. Patients with evidence of new myocardial hyperenhancement… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 19, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

Concept of gaps helps bridge image retrieval divide

February 19, 2008 Concept of gaps helps bridge image retrieval divide Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Promising new technologies such as content-based image retrieval can enrich medical informatics. Yet this technology is not well established in PACS, in spite of the advantages. The cause for this lag is usually attributed to its inability to bridge the divide between low-level computational pixel analysis and high-level human… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 19, 2008 at 10:30am — No Comments

Large screening mammography study restores faith in CAD

February 18, 2008 Large screening mammography study restores faith in CAD H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A new study based on nearly a quarter million mammograms suggests screening mammography with computer-aided detection is more sensitive than double reads. The findings contradict a key study published last year questioning its effectiveness. CAD's potential for yielding too many false positives remains controversial. Radiologists… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 18, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

Report from SCMR: Cardiac MR identifies patients who require aortic valve surgery

February 15, 2008 Report from SCMR: Cardiac MR identifies patients who require aortic valve surgery James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oxford University researchers have established that aortic regurgitation fraction, measured with cardiac MR, accurately singles out patients who need aortic valve replacement surgery. Patients with aortic regurgitation pose a challenge, especially when they are asymptomatic, said Dr. Saul G. Myerson,… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 15, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

Navigational MRI charts language map of brain

February 14, 2008 Navigational MRI charts language map of brain Larry Schuster -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With help from navigational MRI, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have assembled the largest composite map of the brain's language sites ever to appear in the medical literature. They found far greater variability in the location of these sites than other models of language organization suggest. The study of… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 14, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

New Grid PACS architecture answers data management demands

February 14, 2008 New Grid PACS architecture answers data management demands Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Demands on information systems to manipulate 2D, 3D, and 4D images, provide video conferencing, and satisfy other evolving telemedical applications require advanced networking solutions. Grid computing has emerged as one answer. A recent paper from Greece proposes a data-centric network that employs Grid architecture to… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 14, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

Emergency room CT scanning of teenagers skyrockets

February 13, 2008 Emergency room CT scanning of teenagers skyrockets H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The number of emergency department pediatric CT studies performed in such clinical areas as chest imaging may have increased more than 400% in less than a decade, according to University of North Carolina researchers. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable. Mounting evidence in the clinical literature suggests that the utilization… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on February 13, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments