Technology May Eliminate Repeat Breast Cancer Surgery

A clinical trial at the Moores University of California San Diego Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, will evaluate a new surgical device which may spare healthy breast tissue during lumpectomies.  Besides seeking the most immediate  benefit to the patient, surgeons are hoping the device will make only one operation per patient necessary and will allow, instead, for more radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Already approved by … read more »

Beginning with diagnostic imaging and other medical tests, physicians in Pennsylvania eventually discovered a recessive gene that caused their young Amish patient’s newly identified disease, which was only found in other Amish children.

According to an article in Medical News Today, the  boy was behind in growth rate and developmental milestones. He had recurring diarrhea and was visibly different from his peers. He had an enlarged … read more »

Peace on the home front, or the reversal of trouble in paradise, may be just an fMRI scan away, as activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex can predict if couples will bounce back better from domestic squabbles.

The link between brain activity and the regulation of emotion in the laboratory is documented, and now brain activity and daily chains of events appear to have … read more »

The FDA is taking a closer look at the safety of health information technology and, toward that end, put together a network of 350 US hospitals last month to report hazards, according to an article in The Huffington Post Investigative Fund by Fred Schulte and Emma Schwartz.

As well as citing several recent specific glitches in computerized hospital equipment, the agency is responding, in part, … read more »

Up to half of prostate cancer patients, according to some studies, choose to take herbal or dietary supplements, with the hope of further improving their sexual potency and lessening some of their symptoms. Patients may experience even more complications, though, if they take these products while they are getting radiation therapy treatments.

At William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI, researchers tested three common prostate specific supplements taken in conjunction … read more »

Utilizing an MRI scanner and software designed for the automotive and aircraft industries, researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health have developed technology that captures 4-D  images of the entire chest, with blood flow velocity represented in color coded filaments.

The procedure has the added advantage of producing results in 10 minutes—or nine times faster than current methods—does … read more »

Pneumoperitoneum must be diagnosed promptly when it occurs, which is often abruptly and without warning.

Author: Stephen R. Baker, MD. Special Presentation for Practical Reviews in Radiology

Other Signs of Free Air on Radiography

This third section of the review on diagnosing pneumoperitoneum considers supine plain film signs of abdominal free air outside the right upper quadrant.

In the anterior paramedian superior position of … read more »

Pneumoperitoneum must be diagnosed promptly when it occurs, which is often abruptly and without warning.

Author: Stephen R. Baker, MD. Special Presentation for Practical Reviews in Radiology

Signs of Free Air on Radiography

The best place to look on plain films for findings of pneumoperitoneum is in the right upper quadrant, because the homogeneous shadow of the liver affords an excellent background upon … read more »

PACS systems or review stations don’t always correctly display and measure lesions on magnified images, even though they have FDA approval. That’s according to a small study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Currently the FDA has approved eight digital mammogram systems. However, none of the literature on image quality among these systems addresses measurement accuracy, … read more »

Over the past 10 years, CT angiography (CTA) has been replacing ventilation/perfusion (VQ) imaging as “the gold standard” for imaging pulmonary embolism (PE). Some would say that’s with good reason: CT is faster, produces sharper images, and is usually readily available in most hospitals. However, using CT for diagnosing PE is a big concern for some doctors, who say the … read more »