Related to radiology in general and Indian radiology in particular
This article by Iannaccone R et al in Gastroenterology has been dissected in "Evidence-Based Medicine", with pretty favourable results for CT colonography using fecal taggging.
Hype is everywhere. Note the "cutting-edge magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan" that is discussed in this article on the use of diffusion-weighted MRI for monitoring response of brain tumors to radiation therapy. This article merits a lay press mention? And its been carried by at least 5 prominent papers in the US. Let's wait and see when the Times of India carries it.
Scan Man is brilliant again as ever. In this piece, he talks about GE's direct to consumer marketing of the "Triple Rule Out" and its association with the VCT. Philips, Siemens and Toshiba may arguably have better scanners, but they really need to learn marketing from GE.
Diagnostic Imaging has this report on radiographers in the UK doing very well reporting cranial CTs after training. Though it is supposed to be a way of reducing work-loads for radiologists, it is one more nail in the coffin that the administration and establishment are preparing for our demise.
This is another interesting article on the importance and utility of the STIR sequence. As we already know in the pelvis, where a negative STIR sequence is unlikely to show disease on other sequences, this is another article in European Radiology that shows that in the presence of a normal STIR sequence, when looking for vertebral metastases, a contrast enhanced study will not show additional information.
Only in the US. This entire drama about Terry Schiavo seems so strange and in the end seems nothing but a fight between the husband and the parents, turning political in a national arena.
This is a pilot study, reported in Heart Surg Forum, on using CT angiography for the assessment of the radial artery prior to bypass graft surgery using this vessel. Currently color Doppler is used for these patients, but CTA should be able to give superior information, especially about the anatomy and calcification.
It is amazing what can find its way into the lay press. One such article in the BBC News UK Edition talks about how reseachers are finding ways of measuring the body tempoerature accurately within MRI scanners, just in case a particular part of the body gets too hot.
Richard Gunderman, in the April issue of the AJR, discusses seven common fallacies that radiologists have towards the issue of leadership - he states that many capable physicians refuse to be leaders because they believe in these fallacies. The fallacies he discusses are ; irrelevance, disqualification, tyranny, technique, vanity, ease and sacrifice.
This article from Korea is another elegant article defining another aspect of tuberculosis. The authors, in the April issue of the AJR, show how the cavitary lesions in M. avium intracellulare may actually be due to peribronchial nodules forming bronchiectatic lesions, that eventually become cavities. They have predominantly used the "feeding bronchus" sign to make this hypothesis.
You know that a modality is coming of age, when it is used to differentiate different clinical issues. In this study by Dietrich M et al in the European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, ultra-fast CT was used to look for early restenosis in two different groups of patients going in for saphenous vein graft bypass surgery, one group having regular handsewn anastomosis and the other group having a new automatic clamper with a nitinol implant. More and more now we can use MRI and CT being used as gold standards or methods for assessing and answering clinical issues...this is a "coming of age phenomenon"
This is an interesting article in the March issue of the AJR, where the Valsalva maneuvre was used to assess abdominal wall hernias. The interesting thing is that in 10 patients, the hernia could only be detected by the Valsalva maneuvre. We don't often get patients referred only for evaluation of hernias, but in specific instances where the physician or surgeon suspects a hernia, especially in obese individuals and imaging is requested, this technique could be used. However, MRI is also very good for looking at hernias, though I am not sure whether any study has compared CT and MRI for abdominal wall hernias.
This report from auntminnie.com profiles the use of Radiology, CT">64-slice CT using a biphasic injection technique with VRT reconstructions. It is likely now that conventional urography will go the way of the OCG, except in situations where cost is an issue. It will take another few years though for the appropriate techniques to be standardized for them to worm their way into regular practice.
The hype and "buzz" being created by the new 64 slice CTs is amazing. Check out this new item about Channelnewsasia.com">"the fastest CT scanner in Asia".
