Rebekah Moan

Two radiology groups in Illinois have merged, making them the largest private practice radiology group in the state. Effective Feb. 1, Central Illinois Radiological Associates and Springfield Radiology Associates have joined forces to employ 70 radiologists.

There’s a bit of a shuffle taking place in San Antonio in the world of radiology. Two major radiology companies are undergoing a merger and acquisition.

Most of the talk about changes in healthcare as it relates to radiology center on Medicare reimbursement levels. However, one piece that is yet to be discussed extensively but that has huge implications for radiology is clinical decision support.

Knee osteoarthritis progression can be predicted by MRI findings of medial collateral ligament edema, bone marrow lesions, and being female, according to a study presented at the RSNA meeting.

Health analysts have long complained that an abundant supply of health facilities, or particular types of physicians, increases the probability for diagnosis and treatment of conditions related to that specialty.

A new study on vertebroplasty adds weight to the argument the procedure is safe and effective for patients with acute osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.

Recent news coverage makes it seem as if women at high risk for breast cancer are refusing breast MRI screening left and right. That’s simply not the case, according to several experts.

The use of renal mass biopsy to guide treatment decisions for small renal tumors is cost-effective relative to direct surgery, and can spare many patients unnecessary surgical procedures, according to Massachusetts General Hospital researchers.

BI-RADS descriptors for breast MRI can help determine the risk of malignancy for lesions detected only on MRI, according to a study from the University of Washington.

Despite use of electronic medical records, some critical imaging test result alerts are missed, even when read by one or more healthcare practitioners, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Knee osteoarthritis progression can be predicted by MRI findings of medial collateral ligament edema, bone marrow lesions, and being female, according to a study presented at the RSNA meeting Thursday morning.

There's an alternative to radiology benefit managers that can cut down on labor hours, save money, and ensure patients receive the right imaging test the first time

Experts continue to lambast recent recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to cut breast cancer screening from annual to biennial exams and to limit the test to women ages 50 to 74. The experts are primarily concerned with the task force’s ability to influence policy, and thus they continue to assert there are no data to support the recommendations.

Adding coronary calcium to the assessment of conventional cardiovascular risk factors leads to substantial improvement in cardiovascular risk classification of asymptomatic men and women, according to a study presented at the RSNA on Wednesday afternoon.

MRI is the best method to assess breast cancer tumor size prior to surgery and after chemotherapy, according to findings from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network trial 6657. Size on mammography does not correlate with true residual disease in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and thus MRI is the best modality, the researchers said.

Full-field digital mammography significantly increases the cancer detection rate for women younger than 50 years, according to a study presented Monday afternoon at the RSNA meeting.

Digital mammography plus MRI is the most clinically effective strategy for screening women carrying a genetic mutation known to increase the risk for breast cancer. However, unless the cost of breast MRI decreases substantially, the modality doesn’t translate as cost-effective, according to a study presented on Tuesday at the RSNA 2009 meeting.

The number of unidentified, not corrected errors in radiology reports of spine MRIs is significantly higher than that of corrected errors, according to a study presented at the RSNA meeting on Monday.

Lesion size, patient age, and current ipsilateral breast cancer are statistically significant predictors of pathologic outcome for nonmasslike enhancement lesions seen on breast MRI, according to a scientific session presented on Sunday at the RSNA 2009 meeting.

Radiologists will often not biopsy small lesions because they assume the lesions are benign. But the decision to do so could mean missing malignant cases, according to a scientific session presented Sunday at the RSNA 2009 meeting.

Patients with low back pain who live in areas with many MRI machines are more likely to get scanned and undergo surgery than those in low-availability areas, according to a study looking at Medicare claims data. Patients with low back pain, however, rarely benefit from MRI scans or surgery, so the procedures are often unnecessary.

Patients want rapid access to the results of preliminary readings, which helps avoid frustration due to long response times and cryptic reports.

Powerful political sources are lining up with radiologists and mammographers against guidelines from a federal panel that scrap longstanding policies for the timing of screening mammography. Even the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is distancing itself from its panel’s recommendations in the wake of criticism from many women’s health advocates and breast cancer survivors.

Musculoskeletal scientific sessions at the RSNA meeting will address the use of dual-energy CT in multiple settings, including the possibility of combined heart and bone density scans. Submitted papers also show the use of dual-energy CT for imaging other indications, such as gout.

RSNA meeting attendees can expect health services scientific sessions to focus on quality, according to the committee chair. The sessions will define quality and how radiologists can work on the entire care experience.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued a recommendation against routine breast cancer screening for women ages 40 to 49 and suggests the screening interval should be changed from every year to every two years beginning at age 50. The new recommendations will result in “many needless deaths,” said a joint statement from the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging

Imaging advocates, including the American College of Cardiology, cautioned against giving too much credence to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluding that adults are exposed to excessive doses of radiation from medical imaging procedures that are not supported by the clinical data.

African American women take longer to come in for follow-up care after a suspicious breast abnormality is found, according to a study from the University of South Carolina. The problem may have more to do with economics than race, according to a physician with extensive clinical experience with this unique patient population.

SNM's Clinical Trials Network has expanded to include relationships with European PET radiopharmaceutical manufacturing sites to support molecular and nuclear imaging facilities on the continent that are gearing up to perform scientific studies for the program.

The largest population-based study to date comparing filmscreen mammography and full-field digital mammography has found the digital approach is superior for visualizing microcalcifications deemed crucial to diagnosing ductal carcinoma in situ.