April 16, 2008 NSF lawsuit discovery process may expose lax contrast documentation Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A casual attitude toward keeping track of gadolinium-enhanced studies may come back to haunt radiology departments that have become involved in several federal lawsuits alleging a connection between cases of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and gadolinium-based MR contrast agents. In a 2007 study that examined allergic…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 16, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 15, 2008 Scientific abstracts indicate growing prestige of ARRS annual meeting James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's happening with the American Roentgen Ray Society? Its annual meeting, known mainly for the quality of its refresher course, has become an essential point of coverage for world-class scientific research as well. Colleagues at Diagnostic Imaging have handled our review of ARRS abstracts in the past, so I was more…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 15, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 15, 2008 Myocardial perfusion CT, cardiac MR match up well James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A preliminary study indicates that first-pass and delayed-enhancement myocardial CT correlate well with measures of infarction size gathered with equivalent cardiac MR procedures. Dr. Koen Nieman and associates in the radiology and cardiology departments at Massachusetts General Hospital compared results from 64-slice CT and 1.5T cardiac…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 15, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 15, 2008 Florida radiologist agrees to pay $7 million to resolve kickback claims James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Fred L. Steinberg and his imaging centers and related entities in Palm Beach County near Miami will pay $7 million to settle alleged violations of federal Stark self-referral law and anti-kickback statutes. He was also charged with billing fraud. The settlement, announced April 14, resolves allegations that…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 15, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 15, 2008 Contrast-enhanced ultrasound beats CT in diagnosis of portal vein thrombosis in liver cancer Wendy Despain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contrast-enhanced ultrasound detected portal vein thrombosis far better than CT in cases complicating hepatocellular carcinoma. While CT found only 68% of thrombi, contrast-enhanced ultrasound identified every one in the study. It also did a far better job of helping determine if they were…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 15, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 14, 2008 Report from ARRS: Telemammography over Internet proves feasible, cost-effective H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly 30,000 cases and three years of experience have confirmed that the transmission and interpretation of digital mammography exams to and from a remote location through commercially available high-speed cable Internet access is feasible, safe, reliable, and cost-effective, according to a Columbia…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 14, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 14, 2008 Report from ARRS: Study establishes infection as NSF risk factor H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New evidence has surfaced pinpointing specific potential causes of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Findings sustain its relationship to some gadolinium-based contrast media, but they also suggest that infection, certain patient demographics, and even some drugs could be strongly associated with the condition. The studies…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 14, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 11, 2008 Structured query language extension supports content-based image retrieval Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Schemes proposed to support growing interest in content-based image retrieval have generally failed to incorporate the use of structured query language to support similarity queries. Recent research from Brazil provides this ability. Similarity queries scan databases for objects similar to the reference object. To…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 11, 2008 at 11:30pm —
No Comments
April 11, 2008 PET tops CT for early characterization of malignant lung nodules H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A large multicenter trial rates FDG-PET as more reliable than CT for the detection of malignant solitary pulmonary nodules. The findings suggest, however, that a combined rather than single-modality approach may lead to earlier treatment and help avoid invasive procedures. The clinical literature notes that suspicious lung…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 11, 2008 at 11:00pm —
No Comments
April 11, 2008 PET registry study authors ask Medicare to expand coverage James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Physician authors of a study summarizing 12 months of positive results from the National Oncologic PET Registry have asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to grant routine Medicare payment for numerous PET procedures tracked by the registry. The formal request, dated March 25, came a day after the results of the…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 11, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 11, 2008 Nuclear studies show benefits of progenitor cell therapy James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- German researchers have demonstrated the value of PET and SPECT imaging for monitoring the ability of circulating progenitor cells injected in the coronary arteries to preserve the integrity of myocardial tissue following recanalization. Twenty-six patients with occlusive coronary artery disease took part in the randomized…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 11, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
April 10, 2008 Proton MRS links fibromyalgia pain to changes in brain molecule Yomi Wrong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Widespread muscle and tissue pain, tenderness, and fatigue are well-documented symptoms of fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that affects up to an estimated 6% of the U.S. population. The underlying pathology of the pain disease is unknown. A new study featuring proton MR spectroscopy, however, has found a key linkage between…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 10, 2008 at 12:00am —
No Comments
April 9, 2008 TACE plus RFA extends survival in liver cancer patients Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pairing chemoembolization with radiofrequency ablation improved survival in patients with unresectable hepatocellular cancer, according to a multidisciplinary group based at Shangdong University in Jinan, China. Their study results demonstrated how tumor microarchitecture could be manipulated to boost localized therapy. Transcatheter…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 9, 2008 at 12:00am —
No Comments
April 9, 2008 Massive Southwest telehealth grid promises benefits for teleradiology Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A new broadband telehealth network being designed will connect more than 500 sites across seven southwestern states, providing an improved teleradiology platform to support clinics and hospitals in remote locations throughout the region. "The Southwest Telehealth Access Grid promises to bring access to critical imaging…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 9, 2008 at 12:00am —
No Comments
April 8, 2008 Lower cancer screening rates in obese women show surprising racial twist Yomi Wrong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A review of 32 studies examining medical imaging of obese patients found that extremely large women are less likely than smaller women to be screened for breast, colon, and cervical cancer. The analysis also revealed surprising trends along racial lines, indicating that overweight white women are less likely than their…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 8, 2008 at 12:00am —
No Comments
April 7, 2008 Utilization management firm pitches patients on dose concerns Yomi Wrong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A website that allows patients to calculate radiation exposure levels for particular exams is drawing fire from some radiologists, who question whether the health plan-owned company is using safety as a smokescreen for profit management. With a few clicks, visitors to Patient Safety choose a procedure — Bone Density, CT, PET…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 7, 2008 at 12:00am —
No Comments
April 7, 2008 Doppler ultrasound finds increase in renal blood flow in children with diabetes Wendy Despain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doppler ultrasound shows that diabetic nephropathy may affect the kidneys of pediatric diabetes patients long before clinical indications become evident. Diabetes-related microvascular complications rarely reach clinical stages in childhood, but researchers investigated whether Doppler ultrasound could…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 7, 2008 at 12:00am —
No Comments
April 4, 2008 Hemostatic clips and MRI procedures: Some are safe, some may not be Frank Shellock -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A recent "Sentinel Alert" from the Joint Commission addressing the prevention of accidents and injuries in the MRI suite stated: "All implants should be checked against product labeling or manufacturer literature specific to that implant, or peer-reviewed published data regarding the device or implant in question.…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 4, 2008 at 12:30pm —
No Comments
April 4, 2008 RFA provides sustained pain relief in osteoid osteoma patients Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CT-guided radiofrequency ablation offers long-term pain reduction in patients with osteoid osteoma, making it a viable alternative to open surgery, according to researchers from Seoul. "Surgery is considered if pain persists, but open surgical excision is known to have high morbidity and recurrence is not uncommon," said Dr.…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 4, 2008 at 12:30pm —
No Comments
April 4, 2008 Grid debuts to facilitate inter-institutional image interoperability Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A grid designed to link applications in the research environment leverages grid computing technologies and web resources to provide a set of programming tools for research application development and deployment. The National Cancer Institute's cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) program reached a major milestone…
Continue
Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 4, 2008 at 12:00am —
No Comments
