Health Imaging & IT - January 2009 - (Page 16)

RSNA 2008 In Review RSNA 2008 IN-Depth @ RSNA360.HealthImaging.com New statistical model could help reduce breast lesion biopsies Wendy DeMartini, MD, from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and colleagues have developed a preliminary statistical model that breast radiologists could use when deciding whether a lesion found on breast MRI is likely to be malignant or benign. This could be beneficial because MRI exams are so sensitive that they reveal cancerous and non-cancerous lesions that often look alike and behave similarly when contrast dye is injected, she said. Lesions found in women undergoing MRI to look for additional malignancy after new breast cancer diagnosis that were larger than 1 centimeter, and whose enhancement quickly washes out were the most likely to be malignant. Brachytherapy offers alternative to breast cancer patients with implants Women with early-stage breast cancer who have undergone breast augmentation may be treated successfully with brachytherapy, partial-breast radiation treatment. Patients treated with brachytherapy have better cosmetic outcomes and avoid the risk of the implant hardening, compared to patients who undergo whole-breast radiation therapy, according to Robert R. Kuske Jr., MD, from the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and the Arizona Oncology Services in Scottsdale, Ariz. He said that one in eight women who undergo breast augmentation (347,500 women in 2007; a 64 percent increase since 2000) will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. Breast-specific gamma imaging could target hard-to-detect cancers Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) is effective in the detection of cancers not found on mammograms or by clinical exam, Rachel F. Brem, MD, of the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. “BSGI can identify the most difficult to detect breast cancer—invasive lobular carcinoma,” said Brem. “It also can help us detect additional lesions of all types of breast cancer in women whose mammograms show only one suspicious lesion.” While mammography findings are characterized by the difference in appearance between normal and suspicious breast tissue, BSGI findings are based on how cancerous cells function. BSGI is meant to be used as an adjunct to mammography. at once—colorectal cancer and osteoporosis—both of which commonly affect adults over age 50, according to study results. The study’s lead author Rizwan Aslam, MB, from the University of California, San Francisco, said that by using CTC images, another software application can create 3D images of the spine, allowing bone mineral density, usually associated with osteoporosis, to be measured. “When an individual undergoes CT colonography, we can also obtain a bone density measurement with no additional radiation and at minimal cost,” Aslam said. Referring physician input guides Ct colon report format When it comes to clinician-to-clinician service offerings, simply asking what they want can provide a better quality of medical communication, as well as deliver improved patient care, according to a Mayo Clinic initiative that set out to develop a structured report format to communicate CT colonography (CTC) results to referring clinicians. Using “C-RAD” proposals from the Working Group on Virtual Colonoscopy as a starting point, the team reconfigured the C-RAD report format to present colonic findings, in all capital letters, first. A paragraph break followed and extracolonic findings were presented next. Technique followed another paragraph break, and comprised the third element presented in the report. The new format was then sent out, along with the traditional format currently in place at the facility to a broad group of referring clinicians. panoramic 3D offers new Ct colon efficiencies As CT colonography (CTC) gains wider acceptance as an effective and less-invasive exam for colon cancer screening, advanced visualization tool development is keeping pace by offering applications that will allow interpreting clinicians the ability to efficiently and effectively manage the virtual colonoscopy workflow. Dipti K. Lenhart, MD, of New York University Medical Center in New York City assessed the evaluation times and accuracy of unidirectional panoramic 3D interpretation to traditional 2D and bi-directional 3D endoluminal techniques. Among the three readers, 2D interpretation had a mean time of 8.85 minutes; endoluminal 3D clocked in at 14.74 minutes; and panoramic 3D took 12.19 minutes. “Primary 2D interpretations are quicker than 3D, but sensitivity for 2D is significantly lower,” Lenhart noted. “Panoramic and traditional 3D techniques have similar sensitivity and specificity, with panoramic interpretation requiring significantly less time.” Low-dose protocol doesn’t affect 3D CtC Although the diagnostic quality of 2D images produced by ultra Ü CT Colonography Ct colonography could offer one-stop screening for cancer and osteoporosis CT colonography (CTC) has the potential to screen for two diseases 16 Health Imaging & IT | January 2009 HealthImaging.com http://RSNA360.HealthImaging.com http://www.HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - January 2009

Health Imaging & IT - January 2009 Contents The Enterprise News Update DR Breathes New Life into Radiography Radiology in the Spotlight Educational Sessions Keynote Addresses Tech Trends on the Exhibit Floor Imaging Tools Managing Technology People & Technology Reader's Resource

Health Imaging & IT - January 2009

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