Diagnostic Imaging's Blog – December 2008 Archive (131)

December 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 30 No. 12 Feds push states to abolish certificate of need regs The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are pressuring state governments to repeal certificate of need laws meant to control healthcare costs by regulating the purchase of capital equipment, such as MRI technology and CT scanners. The two agencies argue that CON laws are anticompetitive, favor incumbents, and undercut consumer choice. The DOJ and FTC underscored their… Continue

December 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 30 No. 12 Expert brings insights, history, strong opinions to NSF controversy BY JOHN C. HAYES Sometimes we get to explore a controversy with a bit of historical perspective. That opportunity usually involves someone who has spent considerable time in radiology and has developed strong opinions about what the history shows. We have just such an example in a commentary from Prof. Dr. Peter Rinck that appears on page 23 of this edition. Rinck, an expert… Continue

December 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 30 No. 12 European hospitals cope with Mo-99 supply crisis Petten reactor shutdown disrupts nuclear medicine in 20 European countries and U.S. until mid-January Nuclear medicine services in 20 European countries, the U.S., and Canada are learning to cope with the potential daily disruptions in the normal supply of molybdenum-99 from the forced shutdown of the High Flux Reactor in Petten, the Netherlands. The HFR is one of two main sources of Mo-99 in… Continue

December 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 30 No. 12 Environment aims to enrich interdepartmental teamwork Completely rethinking facility planning results in reading milieu that enhances productivity, collaboration with referring physicians BY JAMES A. AMATO MBA (RT) Mr. Amato is the Medical Center's administrator for radiology at the University of Virginia Health System. Enhancing collaboration with referring physicians is the focus of a major renovation currently under way at the University of… Continue

December 1, 2008 DiagnosticImaging.com. Elastography breaks new ground in musculoskeletal imaging By H.A. Abella Researchers from Egypt and Austria are taking a leap of faith to evaluate several possible ultrasound elastography applications in musculoskeletal radiology. Everyone from weekend warriors to elite athletes may benefit if the test is proven effective, according to papers released Monday at the RSNA meeting. Musculoskeletal radiologists seem keen on moving toward more quantitative,… Continue

December 1, 2008 DiagnosticImaging.com. CTA evaluates coronary stent patency By James Brice Cohort studies presented in a scientific session Sunday showed progress toward employing coronary CT angiography to evaluate the patency of coronary artery stents. Building on research presented in the two preceding years, the results covered during this year's sessions indicate that the protocols have improved for examining stent patency with 64-slice or dual-source CT. Promising findings from this… Continue

December 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 30 No. 12 CT angiography helps plan endovascular aneurysm repair Postprocedure examination for endoleaks and assessment of vessel morphology follow pretreatment evaluation and sizing BY CONSTANTINO S. PEÑA, M.D., JAMES F. BENENATI, M.D., AND BARRY T. KATZEN, M.D. Dr. Peña is medical director of vascular imaging at Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute in Miami, Dr. Benenati is medical director of the peripheral vascular laboratory and the fellowship… Continue

December 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 30 No. 12 Colonoscopy could be costeffective only in middle age New evidence suggests conducting screening colonoscopies for people in their mid- 50s saves money. But other evidence indicates there may be an upper age limit for the benefits of such screening. Dr. Jianjun Li and colleagues from Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn conducted free screening colonoscopies for 248 consecutive patients with a mean age of 55. Follow-up detected colon cancer… Continue

December 1, 2008 CoActiv tailors PACS for breast imaging By Greg Freiherr Emerging opportunities in breast imaging have inspired CoActiv to tailor its Exam-PACS to handle breast-specific gamma imaging files, such as those generated by Dilon Technologies' molecular breast imaging gamma cameras. The company's new PACS twist, which debuted at RSNA 2008, supports side-by-side display of nuclear medicine images and digital mammograms as well as breast ultrasound and MR images, according to the… Continue

December 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 30 No. 12 Case of the Month CLINICAL HISTORY A 27-year-old woman with a history of hypertension and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus presented with mild abdominal pain. When questioned, the patient denied experiencing recent weight loss. FINDINGS Axial CT images were obtained in the arterial and venous phases after administration of oral and intravenous contrast media. A 6.4 × 5.9 × 8.6-cm mass was found to arise from the tail of the pancreas and… Continue

December 1, 2008 DiagnosticImaging.com. Brachytherapy improves cancer treatment in augmented breasts By Christiana Schmitz Targeted radiation of breast cancer reduces treatment time from six and a half weeks to five days, while reducing pain and improving cosmetic outcome, according to a study presented at the RSNA meeting. Brachytherapy is particularly useful for breast cancer patients who have undergone breast augmentation. It targets cancer using radioactive "seeds" placed with catheters… Continue