Based on on a database with more than 100,000 submitted cases, modifications to the international system for staging non-small cell lung cancer promise to more closely reflect the connection between disease progression and the patient's prospects for survival.

The new generation of wide CT detectors provides expanded coverage, allowing faster scans and even dynamic imaging of organs, including heart and brain. There are disadvantages, said Dr. Mathias Prokop, speaking May 19 at the 11th International Symposium on Multidetector Row CT, but these are minor in comparison.

A smorgasbord of challenges face radiology but few present a greater threat than the “invisible radiologist,” said Dr. Gary Glazer, chairman of the Stanford University radiology department, who kicked off the 11th International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT.

As with any competition, the value of the Workstation Face-Off at this year’s International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT will reveal itself during the course of the event.

Over the past quarter century, exposure to ionizing radiation from medical procedures in the U.S. has grown sevenfold, according to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. CT is a major source.

Cystic lesions of the pancreas tend to be a phenomenon of aging. By and large, these lesions are benign, but sorting out the small number that have potential for malignancy is important.

Persistent ground-glass nodules in the lungs are worth a closer look, as they are highly associated with malignancy. Dr. Anne Leung offered an overview of how these lesions present on CT imaging at the 2008 Stanford International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT in Las Vegas.

A comprehensive CT evaluation of the abdomen requires analysis of the mesenteric vasculature above and beyond the axial plane, according to Dr. Elliot Fishman, director of diagnostic radiology and body CT at Johns Hopkins University and Hospital.

A trip through the MR scanner can wreak havoc with implantable cardiac devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators. But this kind of interference may not be limited to MR imaging, according to Cynthia McCollough, Ph.D.

Philips Healthcare is stepping up efforts to deliver its ultra-premium Brilliance iCT to sites around the world. Jeffrey Studenka, Philips’ senior director for field marketing, told Diagnostic Imaging at the Stanford MDCT conference that the company now expects to have 50 of the 256-slice units installed by the end of 2008. This is about four times as many as company execs were predicting when they unveiled the iCT at RSNA 2007.

Plans are on track for Toshiba America Medical Systems to begin routine shipments by summer’s end of its AquilionOne, featuring the industry’s only wide area detector, spanning 320 detector rows.

CT multitasks in the lungs, serving as a tool for cancer screening, disease diagnosis, lesion characterization, and lung cancer treatment response. In a talk at the 2008 Stanford International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT in Las Vegas, Michael McNitt-Gray, Ph.D., posited that CT can be used more effectively to assess treatment response in lung cancer patients, but clinicians must look beyond current response parameters.

Logistical and reimbursement limitations dictate that most CT exams be performed on an outpatient basis, making it difficult to manage contrast-related reactions, especially in patients with renal insufficiency. Oral hydration may be as effective as intravenous fluids for preventing contrast-induced nephropathy in some instances, but further study is needed.

As the exhibit floor at the Stanford International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT was ready to open May 13, GE booth managers strategically placed signs announcing the FDA clearance of its new LightSpeed CT750 HD atop displays of the scanner’s components.

Siemens Healthcare cast its dual-source CT scanner Somatom Definition as the clinical pioneer of multienergy scanning, presenting its Optimum Contrast software as the means for improving dual-energy images created using injected contrast agents. Image optimization algorithms process data obtained at different energy levels -- 80 kVp to 140 kVp -- to create optimal image quality for the kinds of structures being displayed (soft tissue and vasculature, for example), according to the company.

Faster and better visualization are the main reasons to use dual-energy CT for the assessment of pancreatic masses, according to a presentation at the Stanford International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT in Las Vegas.

Cystic lesions of the pancreas tend to be a phenomenon of aging. By and large, these lesions are benign, but sorting out the small number that have potential for malignancy is important.