New MRI Finding Sheds Light On Multiple Sclerosis Disease Progression

Using magnetic resonance (MR) images of the brain, researchers have identified a new abnormality related to disease progression and disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology, published by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"Based on these findings, physicians may be able to diagnose multiple sclerosis more accurately and identify patients at risk for developing progressive disease," said the study's lead author, Rohit Bakshi, M.D., associate professor of neurology and radiology at Harvard Medical School and director of clinical MS-MRI at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Partners MS Center in Boston.

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Cardiac CTA reveals significant incidental disease beyond the heart

A study by University of Maryland researchers has found that CT angiography exams performed after coronary artery bypass surgery can help physicians identify unsuspected, clinically relevant cardiac and noncardiac conditions.

Imagers learned years ago that many patients undergoing electron beam CT of the heart also showed incidental cardiac and noncardiac disease warranting management. Tests like coronary artery calcium scoring without contrast media, for instance, now popular for use with multislice CT scanners, can show such findings.

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Multidetector CT Angiography Promising for Brain Aneurysm

DUISBURG, Germany, July 31 -- Multidetector CT angiography can diagnose and assess intracranial aneurysms with equivalent accuracy to digital subtraction angiography, investigators here reported.

Compared with DSA, the investigators found that multidetector CTA had a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 100% for detecting brain aneurysms, according to an article in the August issue of Radiology. In addition, multidetector CTA predicted the feasibility of endovascular treatment with 94% sensitivity and 92% specificity.

We conclude that multidetector CT angiography… can be used as the first step in the diagnostic workup of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage," said Karsten Papke, M.D., of the Duisburg Clinic, and colleagues.

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Using MRI For Diagnosis Could Help Prevent Breast Cancer Progression

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose breast cancer in its intraductal stage could help prevent the development of invasive cancer, conclude authors of an Article in this week’s edition of The Lancet. And an accompanying Comment says that the findings show that MRI should now be used as a distinct method in its own right to detect breast cancer in its earliest stage.

Professor Christiane Kuhl, Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Germany and colleagues studied 7319 women over a five-year period who had been referred to an academic breast centre. The women received MRI in addition to conventional mammography for diagnostic assessment and screening, with the aim of discovering the sensitivity of each method for diagnosing ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Mammograms and MRI scans were then assessed independently by different radiologists, and the relative sensitivity of each method of detection was assessed by comparing the biological profiles of mammography-detected DCIS with those of MRI-detected DCIS.

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New Level of Effectiveness for CT Colonography Examinations

Siemens Medical Solutions is solidifying its presence at the forefront of the market for computer-assisted reading tools in CT colonography by today announcing the release of a new version of syngo® Colonography PEV (Polyp Enhanced Viewing), an automated second reader tool for the visualization of lesions in the colon.

The solution helps radiologists to detect polyp-shaped objects between 6 mm and 25 mm in size and can now be used both in clean-prepped and solid-liquid tagged protocols. With the new version, syngo® Colonography PEV delivers the benefits of computer-assisted reading to a wider range of protocols commonly applied in CT colonography today, including stool tagging agents. The PEV tool is seamlessly integrated into the syngo Colonography CT application.

Together with workflow-enhancing features such as Auto Polyp Measurements, the software improves reading accuracy as well as efficiency. The solution was developed using an extensive database of more than 1700 CT colonography cases from more than 15 clinical sites worldwide, and covers a variety of CT acquisition parameters and bowel preparation protocols.

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Study Cautions Use Of Cardiac CTA In Children

Cardiac-gated CTA radiation doses can vary and be as high as 28.4 mSv (10 times the annual natural background radiation) in children, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC and Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA.

"This investigation evaluated the potential radiation dose of coronary CT angiography in pediatric patients," said Caroline Hollingsworth, MD of Duke University Medical Center, lead author of the study. "Since often adult technologies and techniques are simply applied to children, we were interested in assessing what the dose could be," she said.

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