Diagnostic Imaging's Blog – January 2009 Archive (54)

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Focused ultrasound ablation offer prostate cancer option BY CLARE TEMPANY, M.D., JALIL AFNAN, M.D., AND NATHAN MCDANNOLD, PH.D. Dr. Tempany is a professor of radiology, Dr. Afnan is a research fellow, and Dr. McDannold is an assistant professor of radiology and codirector of the Focused Ultrasound Research Laboratory, all in the department of radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in Boston. All are also affiliated… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 fMRI for lie detection finds customers but lacks science Public may pay $5000 for scans to dispute infidelity and child molestation charges, but findings inconsistent, not always repeatable BY DONNA DOMINO Ms. Domino is feature editor of Diagnostic Imaging. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is a lofty goal. But, as Pontius Pilate said to Jesus, "What is truth?" Researchers have long sought a scientifically sound technology… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Expertise with MSCT-CA takes time Beginners show slow but steady improvement By Donna Domino Multislice CT coronary angiography is becoming a practical alternative to conventional angiography. Physicians experienced with technique are able to diagnose coronary stenoses of 50% or greater with very high sensitivity and specificity, but acquiring the expertise is time-consuming. A study to evaluate the effects of experience with multislice coronary… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Economic woes affect attendance Vendor and professional totals both drop By James Brice A big drop in exhibitor attendance led to an overall 5% decline in the number of people who attended the 2008 RSNA meeting. Audited totals released by the RSNA after the end of sessions on Dec. 5 indicate that 58,795 people attended the weeklong scientific assembly and meeting. Vendor attendance declined 12% to 24,683. According to the RSNA, 726 technical… Continue

January 1, 2009 Dual-isotope SPECT/CT finds infections in diabetic feet By James Brice Nuclear medicine physicians at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City have reported encouraging results with dual-isotope SPECT/CT for accurately diagnosing and localizing infection in the feet of diabetic patients. Correctly differentiating between osteomyelitis and softtissue infection has important implications for the choice of treatment for such patients, especially the 70,000 who annually lose a… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Depth increases in lineup of breast imaging options Horizon of breast cancer detection extends to tomosynthesis and positron emission mammography By Rebekah Moan with additional reporting by Philip Ward, David Ma, and Kristin Minogue Breast imaging remained a strong point of scientific research at the 2008 RSNA meeting, with breast MRI playing a starring role but sharing the limelight with tomosynthesis, position emission mammography, and… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Database mining unearths secrets about imaging use Computer-assisted analyses draw insights from unprecedented number of studies By John C. Hayes Having mastered the basic process of digitizing, storing, and retrieving medical images and reports, radiologists are now turning their attention to analyzing vast collections of the data to uncover clinical and practice trends. Informatics scientific sessions at the RSNA meeting were packed with… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 CTC can diagnose more than cancer Researchers find modality can also detect osteoporosis By David Ma and Rebekah Moan CT colonography can screen for both colorectal cancer and osteoporosis reliably at minimal additional cost and time, according to a study at San Francisco VA Hospital. Given the nature of CT colonography, radiologists may construct scans into 3D models of the spine, which can then be used to measure bone mineral density,… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 CMS hesitates to approve PET for cancer despite data Despite data indicating PET can influence the management of cancer patients regardless of their cancer type, National Oncologic PET Registry scientists faced a setback when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reviewed a request for expanded coverage. A CMS advisory panel came to the conclusion that clinical data for nine conditionally approved cancer indications of FDGPET were too… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Chest CT assists follow-up of head and neck cancer A Taiwanese study suggests multislice CT chest studies should be routinely performed, especially during follow-up exams, for some head and neck cancer patients. During a retrospective review, researchers from the Taipei Veterans General Hospital and colleagues found abnormalities in 79 of 270 chest scans from 192 patients with biopsy-proven head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Ten of 15… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Case of the Month FigureCLINICAL HISTORY A 41-year-old woman presented with a known history of bilateral foot deformities and new complaints of bilateral foot pain. FINDINGS Anteroposterior (Figures 1 and 2) and lateral (Figures 3 and 4) plain films of the patient's feet demonstrate bilateral shortening of the third and fourth metatarsals with associated shortening of the distal phalanges. Additionally, the patient has bilateral hallux valgus… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 California blames operator error for CT incident By Donna Domino -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The California Department of Public Health has determined that excessive radiation exposure to a two-year-old boy who was allegedly subjected to 151 CT scans while in the machine for 65 minutes, leaving him with radiation burns on his face and head, was due to “operator error” by the radiologic… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Brain imaging finds why people overbid at auctions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New York University neuroscientists and economists have combined functional MRI with behavioral economic research to discover why people tend to overbid for products sold at auction: fear of losing a social competition. Investigators examined brain activation patterns while volunteers played either an auction game… Continue

January 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 31 No. 1 Assistants take on additional tasks, inch toward payment Radiologists need help but grapple with issues of who should decide what assistants can do, how they should be trained, and who accredits them BY YOMI WRONG Ms. Wrong is a former feature editor for Diagnostic Imaging. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During 18 years as a radiologic technologist, Jeff Crowley acknowledged he sometimes thought,… Continue