The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) responded earlier this week to a New York Times article reporting on errors made during radiation therapy. Focusing on radiation accidents in the state of New York, the Jan. 24 Times story warned readers that radiation therapy, when administered incorrectly, can kill and maim patients. The story went on to say that it’s … read more »

Almost 15,000 patients each year have lower gastrointestinal bleeding that cannot be diagnosed despite aggressive workup, because standard modes of imaging and endoscopy show normal results.

Using pharmacological agents during standard angiography to induce a prohemorrhagic state is termed “provocative angiography,” and is best used when conventional angiography is non-diagnostic, and significant bleeding would otherwise necessitate emergency surgery. … read more »

Intracranial vascular stenosis is a risk factor for cerebral infarction, and methods of treatment include conservative management, angioplasty, or angioplasty and stent.

A recent study was conducted to evaluate outcomes and factors related to adverse events following balloon expandable intracranial stent placement (BEICS).

Angioplasty and stenting of severe intracranial stenosis has proven to be highly successful. … read more »

Air Emboli: Risks Associated With Central Venous Catheter Placement and Exchange
Air embolization (AE) is a potentially fatal complication of central venous catheter placement, manipulation, removal, or exchange.

There are a variety of protective devices or techniques that are used to limit the incidence of air emboli during catheter procedures, but the effectiveness of these has not been evaluated by objective experimental … read more »

A recent study was conducted to evaluate the perfusion of ischemic myocardium on 64-MDCT coronary angiography.

In general, on 64-MDCT coronary angiography, ischemic myocardium is characterized by less perfusion of the subendocardium during systole and normal perfusion during diastole.
… read more »

Chronic pelvic pain accounts for 10% to 40% of gynecologic referrals. Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) results from the retrograde flow of an incompetent ovarian vein and is one possible cause of chronic pelvic pain. … read more »

One of the most frequent complications involving dialysis access is recurrent venous stenosis. Cryoplasty, or angioplasty with a balloon that freezes the tissues, has been used in peripheral arteries. … read more »

A dedicated coronary CT scan protocol does not adequately depict the pulmonary arteries in order to exclude pulmonary embolism. … read more »

A recent study was conducted to evaluate how the Framingham risk estimates and the National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATP III) core risk categories correlate with atherosclerotic plaque burden as assessed by coronary CT angiography (CTA). … read more »

Renal cell cancer (RCC) is becoming increasingly more common in the United States. Classically, the treatment of RCC was nephrectomy, but ablative therapy is becoming more common. … read more »