Patients Miss Timely Follow-up After Abnormal Chest CT
Abnormal findings on lung cancer screening CT not always followed up in a timely manner.
Patients with abnormal results on chest CT screenings do not always receive timely follow-up, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston performed a study to determine the proportion of patients who received timely follow-up, defined as within 30 days of recommendation, after screening chest CTs detected an abnormality. Data from 376 patients were examined; 337 (90%) had abnormal chest CT findings and 184 (55%) had specific follow-up recommendations.
The results showed that only 102 of the 184 patients (55%) with recommendations received follow-up within 30 days. Patients who were most likely to be seen within the 30 days were those whose CTs were performed to evaluate pulmonary disease and those receiving care in community health centers. Twenty-seven patients were newly diagnosed with lung cancer; 18 (67%) had their first oncology visit within 30 days of diagnosis.
“Systems to support patients in obtaining recommended follow-up are needed to ensure that the benefits of lung cancer screening translate into usual clinical practice,” the authors wrote.
The Reading Room Podcast: Current Perspectives on the Updated Appropriate Use Criteria for Brain PET
March 18th 2025In a new podcast, Satoshi Minoshima, M.D., Ph.D., and James Williams, Ph.D., share their insights on the recently updated appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET and tau PET in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
MRI Study Suggests Shape of White Matter Hyperintensities May Be Predictive of Cognitive Decline
April 7th 2025Emerging research demonstrated that cognitive declines in memory, executive function and processing speed domains were associated with irregular shape of periventricular/confluent white matter hyperintensities.
What New Research Reveals About Novice Use of AI-Guided Cardiac Ultrasound
April 4th 2025In a study recently presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) conference, researchers found that novice use of AI-guided cardiac ultrasound after an AI-enabled electrocardiogram increased the positive predictive value for reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) or aortic valve stenosis by 33 percent.
Can Abbreviated MRI Have an Impact in Rectal Cancer Staging?
April 4th 2025Abbreviated MRI demonstrated a 95.3 percent specificity for rectal cancer and provided strong agreement with the full MRI protocol for T staging and detection of extramural venous invasion, according to newly published research.
