H.A. Abella

Cancer survivors and others with chronic conditions, backed by patient advocacy groups, gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Wednesday to protest proposed imaging services reimbursement cuts they fear will reduce access to essential diagnostic imaging services, particularly in rural communities.

The new era of comparative effectiveness research may test the wits of all involved in healthcare reform. It is a point underscored by a recent study from University of Minnesota researchers, which shows the latest technological advancement in the treatment of ruptured brain aneurysms has proved less invasive and more effective -- but also far more expensive -- than conventional surgical clipping.

Two European studies published on the same day have reached opposite conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of ultrasound screening exams for abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Legislation that would eliminate the regulatory exemption that allows physicians to self-refer patients to office-based imaging equipment has gained backers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of three committees debating the House of Representatives’ version of comprehensive healthcare reform.

The window for giving tissue plasminogen activator is extended from three hours to four and a half hours after the onset of stroke under new guidelines recommended by the American Stroke Association. Results from two large multicenter trials led the group to advise expanding the time window for tPA delivery.

A major reform of the nation’s healthcare system, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, was introduced in the House of Representatives this week. To the delight of many physicians, the bill would eliminate the sustainable growth rate formula. To the chagrin of radiologists, it would also bring further reimbursement cuts for advanced imaging services.

An analysis of a computer-based model suggests CT-based coronary calcium screening puts patients at an increased risk of developing cancer over time. Women face the greatest lifetime risk, according to researchers.

Proposed legislation would close a loophole exemption in the federal ban against imaging self-referral that has been implicated in the rapid rise of imaging costs and utilization.

Medicare reimbursement for high-tech imaging, including MRI and CT, could be cut by up to 40% if the Obama administration moves ahead with plans covered in proposed changes to the 2010 Physician Fee Schedule to shift funds to primary care physicians.

An abnormally low female birth rate among the Asian population in California's Santa Clara County may be closely related to the fetal keepsake ultrasound industry's growth in a region covering San Jose and the homes of nearly two million residents.

More than a decade's worth of data suggest cryoablation can treat localized malignancies within the prostate more safely and effectively than do standard treatment approaches generally applied to the whole gland.

The oldest radiology group in historic Natchez, MS, faces hard times, if an acute-care hospital in town executes plans to contract with an out-of-town medical group to remotely provide its imaging reading services.

Mexican physicians have compiled a set of radiological findings that is helping local health agencies confirm the diagnosis of the swine A-H1N1 flu virus in humans. Some imaging patterns resemble those from the severe acute respiratory syndrome or ‘avian flu’ epidemic that struck mostly Asian countries in 2003.

Myocardial anomalies detected in long-distance runners after they cross the finish line should not be interpreted as signs of possible heart damage. Using cardiac MR, Canadian investigators have found evidence that these abnormalities are only temporary.

The chairs of the three House of Representatives committees that oversee health policy have released an outline of healthcare reform that could lead to significant changes for radiology.

Receptor-targeted radiotherapy using yttrium-90 DOTA-Tyr3 octreotide could become a life-saving option for patients with iodine-refractory thyroid cancer, based on results from a phase II clinical trial.

The Radiology Business Management Association has called into question a recommendation to increase the assumed utilization rate from 50% to 90% for the relative value unit scale used to calculate outpatient Medicare payment rates for high-tech imaging procedures.

FDG-PET can answer clinically relevant questions about the presence of infection associated with prosthetic knee joints, according to a University of Pennsylvania study presented at the 2009 SNM meeting.

Imaging scientists achieved a major breakthrough when they proved it was possible to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease using PET scans of neurochemical activity. University of Michigan researchers are going for the next neuroimaging milestone by showing that the same technique can also aid in the differential diagnosis of dementia.

A study showing the promising effects of radioimmunotherapy with two different agents for treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma won the Image of the Year award at the 2009 SNM meeting in Toronto.

Provincial health authorities in Saskatchewan, Canada, are investigating a South African-trained radiologist for allegedly misinterpreting enough routine imaging procedures to require new readings for 70,000 exams.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have turned to YouTube to educate the public and physicians about the risks of exposure to CT-generated ionizing radiation and strategies to address them.

A set of healthcare reform funding options presented to the Senate Finance Committee has confirmed imaging provider fears about possible payment cuts. One option includes a Medicare Payment Advisory Commission proposal to recalculate the Medicare payment formula for the technical component of imaging services.

With obstacles to routine Medicare reimbursement of FDG-PET for most cancer cases cleared away, the imaging community is now focusing attention on private insurers and coverage policies that restrict access to the imaging technology.

The American College of Radiology Imaging Network has announced the first of two trials on clinical protocols for the use of coronary CTA in patients presenting to the emergency room with acute chest pain.

Multiple studies have shown CT colonography to be just as efficacious and cost-effective as colonoscopy for colon cancer screening. Now Italian and U.S. researchers have found that CTC also does something colonoscopy cannot: simultaneously detect colorectal cancer and abdominal aortic aneurysms.

For years, high radiation dose exposure has been the bogeyman that kept the cardiac CT triple rule-out exam for chest pain from widespread application. That concern has been addressed with the use of radiation dose reduction techniques, according to a Thomas Jefferson University study.

PET, SPECT, MRI, and even x-ray-based modalities are helping researchers learn how to use stem cells to restore the pumping power of injured hearts. The modalities factor into plans to track stem cell delivery, survival, and replication during clinical use, making them essential for research.

A new 3D fast spin-echo MR sequenceat 3T could one day help musculoskeletalradiologists perform comprehensiveevaluations of articular cartilageof the knee in only five minutes.

A white paper on imaging preauthorization guidelines produced by the American College of Radiology and the Radiology Business Management Association has drawn mixed reactions, particularly among radiology benefit managers. The benefit managers agree that management programs may lack consistency and add costs. But they also worry the guidelines may weaken efforts to control imaging overutilization.