August 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Prostate MR meets challenge following ultrasound ablation Dynamic contrast enhancement offers better sensitivity, but diffusion-weighted imaging turns in higher specificity -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation is used to manage localized prostate cancer after external-beam radiation therapy. But post-treatment alterations to prostate zonal anatomy hamper the assessment of…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on August 1, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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August 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Planning ahead ensures payoff in new projects Early involvement of billing company helps avoid cash crunch, payment surprises later BY KIRK REINITZ, CPA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The nationwide shortage of radiologists, coupled with the growing acceptance and prevalence of teleradiology, has many radiologists and group practice managers seeing opportunities in places they previously would not consider.…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on August 1, 2008 at 8:00pm —
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August 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. PET/CT restaging alters breast cancer management -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FDG-PET/CT's power for staging and restaging breast cancer is attracting attention. It could also detect recurrence in more than two-thirds of these patients and change the management plan in up to a third, according to German investigators. Dr. Michael Souvatzoglou and colleagues in the nuclear medicine department at the Technical…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on August 1, 2008 at 8:00pm —
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August 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. PET avoids liver resection in colon cancer patients -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A multicenter prospective trial in the Netherlands has found that FDG-PET prevents unnecessary surgeries for one in six patients with metastatic colon cancer who undergo liver resection based on CT findings. Dr. W.J.G. Oyen of Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center and colleagues enrolled 75 surgical candidates randomly…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on August 1, 2008 at 8:00pm —
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August 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. New medical imaging modality arises from hard work, inspiration BY JAMES BRICE, SENIOR EDITOR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This month's cover story ("MR elastography inspires new wave of hepatic imaging," page 20) is devoted to a rare event: the birth of a new imaging modality. MR elastography is a wonder of human ingenuity that employs MRI, a modality that itself still seems like a miracle. Few physicians…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on August 1, 2008 at 8:00pm —
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August 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. MR elastography inspires new wave of hepatic imaging Technique achieves 97% negative predictive value for ruling out fibrois to avoid unnecessary liver biopsies BY JAYANT A. TALWALKAR, M.D., MPH, AND MENG YIN, PH.D. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just in time for a looming onset of new liver disease, MR elastography has arrived to employ principles as old as palpation and as new as cross-sectional imaging to…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on August 1, 2008 at 7:30pm —
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July 31, 2008 Whole-body PET/CT and 3T MR perform equally well for lung cancer staging Don Rauf -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No clear winner has emerged in a head-to-head comparison of whole-body FDG-PET/CT and whole-body 3T MRI for non-small cell lung cancer staging. Unenhanced PET/CT proved better for detecting metastatic lymph nodes and soft-tissue involvement, while MR was more sensitive to the presence of brain and liver metastases.…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 31, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 31, 2008 Radiologists bemoan limited access to patient data Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lack of pertinent clinical patient data is a critical element limiting the accuracy of radiologic interpretation. A recent paper addresses radiologists' perceived need for additional clinical patient data, both at the time of interpretation and in follow-up of imaging examinations (J Digit Imaging 2008 May 6 [Epub ahead of print]).…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 31, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 31, 2008 Nailing budgets and equipment in tough times Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In uncertain economic times, there is always one sure thing. Prices are more likely to fall than rise. The bulls pull in their horns. Conservatism wins the day. And budgets usually—but not always— drop. Results from a survey by the medical information division of market research firm IMV, however, indicate that hospitals with fewer than 200…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 31, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 30, 2008 Proponents praise radiopharmaceutical reimbursement overhaul, with caveats H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bexxar and Zevalin have become the poster children of inadequate reimbursement for radiopharmaceuticals. Despite recent Congressional action to freeze their payment rates until January 2010, advocates for these radioimmunotherapic agents say more should be done to support the application of these clinically…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 30, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 29, 2008 MRI zeroes in on medial meniscal tears H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Studies from Korea and the U.S. show that MR imaging of the knee is a reliable and accurate test for the detection of specific subtypes of medial meniscal tears. Good understanding of MR-depicted anatomic features helps identify false-positive injuries of the menisci and avoid unnecessary surgeries. Radial tears are a common type of medial meniscal…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 29, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 28, 2008 ACR wins contract to accredit government radiation oncology facilities From the American College of Radiology -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a three-year contract to the American College of Radiology to serve as the accrediting organization for 33 VA hospital radiation oncology facilities across the country. The purpose of accreditation is to set quality practice standards and…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 28, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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July 25, 2008 Ultrasound serves as eyes of robotic surgery Richard Merritt Duke University Office of News & Communications -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robotic tools that could one day perform surgery on battlefields, in space, and at remote locations with minimal human guidance use 3D ultrasound as a key component. Engineers at Duke University call the results of feasibility studies conducted in their laboratory the first concrete steps…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 25, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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July 24, 2008 Contrast-induced nephropathy fears ease H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten years of clinical data from more than 30,000 patients suggest the estimated risk of sustaining renal damage from iodinated contrast media may have been blown out of proportion, according to Columbia University researchers. With proper scientific validation, contrast may be used even in patients with renal failure. Iodinated contrast agents used…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 24, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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July 23, 2008 MRI breast cancer staging proves benefits, shortcomings H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A metastudy by Australian and European researchers indicates that MR staging identifies additional disease in nearly one of five women previously diagnosed with breast cancer. It also suggests that women may undergo more extensive surgeries than originally planned because of false-positive MR findings. Evidence of MRI's value as an…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 23, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 22, 2008 CT radiation causes implanted devices to malfunction James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The FDA cautioned healthcare CT users July 16 that ionized radiation generated during CT exams may cause some implanted and external electronic medical devices to malfunction. Though rare, the incidence of radiation-induced pacemaker and implantable device malfunction has risen with increased multislice CT use, said Dr. Daniel G.…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 22, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 21, 2008 NetMeeting software enhances collaboration with oncologists Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A new use for an old tool has been enlisted to ameliorate some collaboration difficulties. Researchers in the U.K. have adopted Microsoft's NetMeeting, along with a commercial virtual simulation package called ProSoma (Oncology Systems Limited, Shrewsbury), to provide closer collaboration between radiologists and oncologists in…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 21, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 21, 2008 GAO recommends preauthorization to slow explosive Medicare imaging growth H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the chagrin of imaging advocates, a Government Accountability Office study has found that preauthorization may be best way for Medicare to slow the rapid growth of outpatient MR, CT, and other high-tech imaging services. The June 2008 report confirmed findings of a 2005 Medicare Payment Advisory Commission study…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 21, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 17, 2008 Proponents hail passage of Medicare bill as triumph for physicians, patients H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A showdown between President Bush and Congress over Medicare physician payments concluded Tuesday when the House and Senate overrode the president's veto of HR 6331. The aftermath brings relief to physicians until 2009 and could have significant long-term implications for radiologists and imaging practice. The…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 17, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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July 17, 2008 Dawn of the Tera Era Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was only a few years after I had bought my first desktop computer in 1983 — a dual floppy with RAM so low I can no longer remember its size — that I watched my next- door neighbor install a memory card on the motherboard of his new PC. This top-of-the-line system had a hard drive with half a megabyte of storage. But the memory card that cost $750 held twice that…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 17, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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