Primovist improves MR detection of liver lesions and can change the surgical management of patients in a substantial number of cases, according to the results of two studies presented at the ECR Friday. The data were part of a symposium sponsored by Schering, the developer of the liver-specific agent.

Being a specialist in cardiovascular imaging, I have followed the development of cardiac topics at the ECR since 1991. Tremendous changes have occurred over this period.

Provided cost-effectiveness issues can be resolved, whole-body imaging appears destined to enter everyday clinical practice as a comprehensive initial scanning method in oncology and other areas, according to an ECR presentation Friday.

Europe is debating the acceptance of a common legal framework, a single constitution, for all European nations. This is a challenge, as was the free circulation treaty and the introduction of the euro as a common currency. Through alternating moments of shake-up and tranquillity, Europe is advancing in stages toward unification.

Adding contrast media to high-energy digital mammography studies can generate clearer images of difficult-to-spot breast masses. The use of contrast and digital subtraction algorithms led to results similar in clarity to breast MR in a small investigational study by German researchers.

One out of five patients with breast cancer in a Spanish study had her therapeutic approach changed after undergoing contrast-enhanced MR imaging. Meanwhile, Italian researchers found CE MR valuable in detecting bilateral breast cancer.Dr. Julia

MR spectroscopy can improve specificity in breast cancer detection without losing sensitivity. And the acquisition and postprocessing of spectroscopic data are sufficiently user-friendly to become routine in a clinical setting, according to research

U.K. researchers are using contrast-enhanced MR imaging to identify the stability of carotid plaques. The technique holds potential for determining risk in atheroma patients and tracking plaque progression in response to treatment.Vulnerable

Ongoing technological improvements and sustained growth in the number of scanners worldwide are helping to fuel the rapid growth in clinical PET/CT.About 200 combined systems have been installed worldwide since the first PET/CT scanner was introduced

GE Medical Systems is using the European Congress of Radiology to introduce two new hardware options with potential benefit to cardiovascular radiology.The company is adding to its range of digital fluoroscopy offerings with an imaging system optimized

Digital subtraction angiography was unable to visualize nearly 10% of 1127 arterial segments analyzed by researchers in the U.K. Because four-slice CT angiography picked up all those missed stenoses, DSA should not be considered the gold standard in this

MR scored significantly better than unenhanced biphasic CT scans to detect aneurysmal endoleaks and to rate their size, according to researchers from the University of Mainz, Germany.Because of these differences, even within the various CT protocols,

Steady but significant changes are occurring in how coronary calcification is imaged. Consensus is growing among researchers that the results of multidetector CT compare well with those of the gold standard, electron-beam CT, although they emphasise that

Whole-body MR imaging is a powerful clinical tool with wide-ranging clinical applications, both oncologic and nononcologic. It has the potential to dramatically alter the practice of radiology, according to Dr. Stephen Eustace, a radiologist from the

A new miniPACS for the private-practice, nonhospital environment is under development by Agfa and could be introduced before the end of the year, a company representative said at the ECR on Sunday. The system is designed as a scalable, entry-level

MR angiography should be employed much earlier in the postoperative follow-up of severely ill patients with complex revascularization of cruropedal circulation, according to a German researcher during a Saturday scientific session at the European

One examination that frequently gives rise to internal discussions in our department is CT of the chest to detect pulmonary emboli. Apart from the fact that patients who needed a ventilation/perfusion scan had to be transported to another hospital site,

A cine phase-contrast MR sequence coupled with a spatial magnetization modulation sequence is proving to be a potent combination for evaluating aortic endoleaks, according to Stanford University researchers.Spatial magnetization modulation, or

Diffusion tensor imaging is a relative newcomer in MR imaging. The ability to measure the molecular movement of water within cellular structures was first described less than 20 years ago. Despite problems in the selection of appropriate imaging

MR spectroscopy can be used to assess the metabolic status of elite athletes' muscle fibers. This type of metabolic information might be useful for assessing training conditions or revealing individual predispositions to particular types of muscular