Health Imaging & IT - November 2007 - (Page 17)

N E W S U P D AT E REPORTS & ACCREDITATION Nuclear medicine patient procedures show downturn The number of nuclear medicine procedures decreased by 12 percent in 2006, according to market research firm IMV’s Medical Information Division. “Nuclear medicine utilization is continuing to be dominated by cardiovascular applications, which have grown from 54 percent of 2002 procedures to 60 percent in 2006,” noted Lorna Young, senior director, market research at IMV. “Oncology is the second major application of nuclear medicine procedures, and other modalities, such as PET/CT, may be cannibalizing some oncology procedures that previously belonged solely to nuclear medicine,” Young said. CLINICAL STUDIES Breast-specific gamma imaging better than MRI Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) has equal sensitivity and greater specificity than MRI for the detection of breast cancer for patients with equivocal mammographic findings, according to the September/October issue of The Breast Journal. Rachel Brem, MD, and colleagues at The George Washington University Medical Center compared the use of BSGI and MRI with an indeterminate mammogram for 23 women. There was no statistically significant difference Rachel Brem, MD in sensitivity of cancer detection between BSGI and MRI, however BSGI demonstrated a greater specificity than MRI, 71 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Virtual and conventional colonoscopy SENSITIVITY EQUAL Results from a pair of virtual colonoscopy studies published in October demonstrate that the technique works just as well at spotting potentially cancerous growths as optical colonoscopy. According to results from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN), CT colonography is at least as sensitive as conventional colonoscopy in detecting adenomas 1 cm in diameter or larger. Concurrently, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that virtual colonoscopy and conventional colonoscopy had similar detection rates for advanced neoplasia. Cancer death rate dropping thanks to early detection Death rates from cancer decreased on average 2.1 percent per year from 2002 through 2004, nearly twice the annual decrease of 1.1 percent per year from 1993 through 2003, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2004. The authors report that earlier detection of disease through screening, improved prognosis through more effective treatment, tobacco control, and reduction in inequalities in cancer care all point to success in reducing the burden of cancer in the U.S. 3D/4D ultrasound improves IVF The pregnancy rate for patients undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) is improved when doctors use advanced 3D/4D imaging to guide the placement of embryos to the point where the endometrium is most receptive to implantation, according to a study presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The patients participating in the study achieved an overall pregnancy rate of 40.34 percent, 10.04 percent higher than the rate achieved prior to the introduction of the 3D/4D-guided MIP point technique in 2001. Earlier study results were published in the August 2005 issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility. nd s y st Im a ge acq u ir e d on To ACR revises requirements for breast ultrasound accreditation The American College of Radiology (ACR) Committee on Breast Ultrasound Accreditation has updated accreditation requirements due to revisions to the ACR practice guideline, “Performance of a Breast Ultrasound Examination,” that went into effect Oct. 1. The primary changes address interpreting physician qualifications, equipment specifications and image labeling. Separate certiﬁcation requirements apply to ultrasound-guided biopsies. shiba’s N e mi o XG u lt r as ou MRI PREDICTS BREAST CANCER TUMOR SIZE; identifies candidates for surgery MRI may be an important imaging modality in assessing tumor size in women with breast cancer, both before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, to identify candidates for breast conservation surgery, according to a paper in the November issue of the Journal of Surgical Oncology. “MRI helps predict response to neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer better than other imaging modalities,” said Mehra Golshan, MD, FACS, director of Breast Surgical Services, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and one of the authors of the report. Health Imaging & IT | N O V E M B E R 2 0 07 17 STAY CONNECTED: For daily news, log onto HealthImaging.com HealthImaging.com em. http://HealthImaging.com http://HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - November 2007

Health Imaging & IT November 2007 RSNA 360 Table of Contents Table of Contents On the Web: HealthImaging.com The Enterprise: Imaging & IT = Knowledge News Update RSNA 360: Technology Previews RSNA 360: PACS RSNA 360: PACS Peripherals RSNA 360: Reading Services RSNA 360: Voice Recognition & Reporting RSNA 360: Furniture RSNA 360: CT RSNA 360: Molecular Imaging RSNA 360: Advanced Visualization RSNA 360: MRI RSNA 360: Ultrasound RSNA 360: Health IT RSNA 360: Cardiac Imaging RSNA 360: Digital X-ray RSNA 360: Women’s Imaging RSNA 360: CAD RSNA 360: Data Storage & Archiving RSNA 360: Displays RSNA 360: Oncology Imaging PACS & the EHR: Users Love the Link Lung CAD: A Power Tool in the Imaging Toolset Special Section: RIS/PACS: Efficiency Gains through Integration Fine-Tuning Breast Imaging Workflow Peace of Mind: Long-term Archives that Deliver QA in Medical Displays: Two Approaches CPOE: Wonders in Workflow Emergency Imaging in Flux Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - November 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.