Healthcare Imaging Update Archives – July 1, 2008
July 1, 2008
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Clinicians in quandary as findings with multi-detector-row CT increase
CT has advanced rapidly in recent years, in some cases empowering clinicians to gather huge amounts of data painlessly rather than through invasive procedures. However, there is a tradeoff for the ever-increasing resolution power of the newer scanners: They are picking up a growing number of incidental findings that clinicians must then determine whether to pursue. -
Stereo mammography results impress, but hurdles remain
There still is work to be done, but researchers have concluded an initial clinical trial involving a new stereoscopic digital mammography system that eventually could help radiologists identify more breast cancers with fewer false-positive results. -
Children's hospitals tackle issue of failed sedation
Performing imaging procedures on the very young often requires sedation, but when the child wakes up before the procedure is complete, it is not only a frightening experience for the patient and the parents, but it also usually means the procedure must be rescheduled. -
New approach to DVT delivers impressive results
A novel way to treat deep vein thrombosis (DVT) that involves injecting the clot-busting agent alteplase (rTPA) directly into the clots shows promise mid-way through a second study of the approach that is using much lower doses of rTPA than the initial pilot. -
Color Doppler ultrasound best initially for appendicitis
While ultrasound is generally accepted as the preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis of appendicitis in pediatric patients, investigators from the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, suggest that it should also be the initial imaging examination for most adult patients with suspected acute appendicitis. -
Insight on better lithotripsy technologies and techniques
Since it was first introduced in 1984, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has revolutionized the treatment of kidney stone disease and become the treatment of choice for the vast majority of patients. -
Is there a ESWL link to diabetes, hypertension?
Two years after investigators from the Rochester, MN-based Mayo Clinic reported stunning data, suggesting that the use of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) to fragment kidney stones significantly increases the risk of diabetes and hypertension later on in life, clinicians remain unconvinced that there is a direct cause- and-effect relationship.