Obese patients challenge efficacy of cardiac CTA March 11, 2008 -- VIENNA - Coronary CT angiography (CTA) is proving useful for evaluating most patients with suspected coronary artery disease, particularly since the introduction of 64-slice scanners. But information about CTA's performance in certain subpopulations, such as obese patients, is lacking. Researchers from Belgium studied whether coronary CTA was useful in this patient population, and presented their findings at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology (ECR).Read More
Prospective gating drops cardiac CT radiation dose March 10, 2008 -- VIENNA - Prospective gating has emerged as a promising method for reducing radiation dose in coronary CT angiography (CTA) studies. Monday at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR), Italian researchers confirmed previous results in using prospective gating to reduce dose to as little as 2.8 mSv per heart study, while a German group discussed its effort to further refine prospective gating by making it more accurate.Read More
PET/CT beats 3T MRI in whole-body primary tumor staging March 10, 2008 -- VIENNA - Finding how far a patient's cancer has spread is critical in planning and optimizing treatment. Various imaging techniques now provide indispensable tools for staging primary tumors, but a new comparative study found fused whole-body PET/CT to be significantly more accurate than whole-body MRI -- even at 3 tesla -- for primary tumor staging.Read More
CT maintains edge over MRI in liver transplant planning March 10, 2008 -- VIENNA - Researchers from Germany have found that CT still does a better job than MRI of defining critical vasculature for living donor liver transplant planning, thereby enhancing overall safety for the donors. They compared the results of preoperative CT and MR cholangiography in potential liver donors, and presented their findings Monday at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology (ECR).Read More
Radiology helps Israel meet unique healthcare needs March 10, 2008 -- VIENNA - Attendees at this week's European Congress of Radiology (ECR) got a closer look at how radiology is practiced in Israel at the conference's "ECR meets Israel" session on Sunday. Representatives from the country's radiology community described how PACS helps the country with its unique healthcare needs, and also outlined Israel's breast screening program.Read More
New studies examine CR, CT radiation dose March 9, 2008 -- VIENNA - Two studies presented Sunday at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology (ECR) focused on radiation dose with imaging exams. The first spotlighted the importance of x-ray dose optimization for computed radiography (CR) systems, while the other offered a counterargument to recent studies criticizing the risks of radiation exposure in exams like CT angiography.Read More
CAD nabs the flat polyps VC readers may miss March 9, 2008 -- VIENNA - In two studies presented Sunday at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology, investigators tested colon computer-aided detection (CAD) schemes for their ability to find flat lesions. In both, the sensitivity was reassuringly high, though questions remain about the effect of false-positive CAD detections on reader performance and variations in flat polyp morphology.Read More
Mobile DR helps cut ED image transmission times March 9, 2008 -- VIENNA - Using a mobile digital radiography (DR) system in the emergency department (ED) ward helped a radiology department at a French hospital cut the amount of time to image ED patients in half, according to a presentation on Sunday at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology. But the department's efforts to make the efficiency gains permanent have been stymied by government regulations on radiation exposure in healthcare facilities.Read More
Dose studies delve into coronary CTA March 8, 2008 -- VIENNA - At the 2008 European Congress of Radiology (ECR) on Saturday, researchers presented a pair of studies that examined the radiation dose of coronary CT angiography (CTA). The first compared the dose of 64-slice CT to that of dual-source CT, and the other examined coronary CTA dose data from a multicenter trial.Read More
7-tesla MRI pinpoints ankle damage in marathon runners March 8, 2008 -- VIENNA - Running a 26-mile marathon can cause both painful and painless ankle pathologies, as anyone who has attempted such a feat can attest. New research presented Saturday at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology (ECR) found that 7-tesla MRI scans can give clinicians insight into just how much ankle damage occurs from endurance running.Read More