Mammogram Denied Twice Despite Prescription

A Central Florida woman sought a mammogram at two different medical facilities. Both said no.

She had a doctor’s order. She had insurance coverage. She’d had a breast ultrasound. She had a family history of breast cancer and a personal history of breast lumps. She’d had a benign breast lump removed the previous year, after an ultrasound and a mammogram.

But she … read more »

The CyberKnife radiosurgery system can noninvasively relieve a type of facial nerve pain called trigeminal neuralgia, according to a small study published online last week in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery.

The CyberKnife normally targets tumors. It uses real-time imaging and a robotic arm to deliver precisely targeted, highly concentrated beams of radiation.

In this study, the researchers aimed at the trigeminal … read more »

Space technology may soon help earthbound patients suffering from kidney stones. Scientists are working on ultrasound technology that can not only detect the stones but also push them out of the kidney.

Michael Bailey, PhD, one of the project leaders, summed up the research this way:
We have a diagnostic ultrasound machine that has enhanced capability to image kidney stones in the … read more »

Ultrasound really can be an effective male contraceptive, a North Carolina research team has confirmed. Whether it’s practical remains uncertain.

We reported on the launching of this study in 2010. It built on research done in the 1970s and 1980s by Mostafa Fahim, PhD, of the University of Missouri in Columbia.

The North Carolina researchers found that ultrasound applied to the testes … read more »

A Utah state senator is pushing a bill that would encourage radiologists to include information about breast density in the report that women receive after a mammogram. The bill originally required the inclusion, but it was amended to merely encourage it.

Dense breast tissue may mask tumors on a mammogram and is a risk factor for breast cancer.

Senator Karen Mayne, D-West … read more »

Less than 1 percent of the time—0.74 percent, to be precise—does a CT scan performed on an emergency department patient who is experiencing dizziness yield clinically significant results that require medical intervention.

So says a study by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. They presented it this week at The Triological Society’s annual Combined Sections Meeting in Miami Beach, Florida.

The … read more »

T-rays: the next frontier?

Terahertz waves, also known by the much cooler-sounding name “T-rays,” are in the far-infrared part of the spectrum—some say between the microwave and infrared zones. Their wavelengths are hundreds of times longer than those of the rays in the visible light spectrum. Their most common use right now is in airport security scanners.

T-rays have great potential for … read more »

MRI can detect signs of potential developmental dyslexia in children even before they begin learning to read, according to researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston.

That could be very useful because the earlier the intervention, the better the prognosis in treating developmental dyslexia.

Senior investigator Nadine Gaab, PhD, of the hospital’s Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience said dyslexia usually isn’t diagnosed until the child … read more »

How do physicians go about diagnosing peripheral neuropathy? There are almost countless ways, says a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan. The researchers suggest some standardization is in order.

“Currently no standard approach to the evaluation of peripheral neuropathy exists,” said Brian Callaghan, MD, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School. “We need more … read more »

The radiologist who has appointed herself the “guardian angel” (her term) of confessed killer Joran van der Sloot has accused his lawyer of misleading her and demanded the return of $75,000 she had sent for bail money.

Mary Hamer, MD, of Lake City, Florida, has been financially supporting van der Sloot, who pleaded guilty on January 11 to killing Stephany Flores, … read more »