What is the appropriate measure of radiology workload: Study or image numbers?

Introduction: Previous studies assessing the volume of radiological studies rarely considered the corresponding number of images. We aimed to quantify the increases in study and image numbers per radiologist in a tertiary healthcare network to better understand the demands on imaging services.

Methods: Using the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), the number of images per study was obtained for all diagnostic studies reported by in-house radiologists at a tertiary healthcare network in Melbourne, Australia, between January 2009 and December 2022.

Incidental central pulmonary emboli in outpatients with deep vein thrombosis.

Background: While it has been demonstrated that large asymptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE) can occur, many studies have assessed inpatients or patients with known risk factors for venous thromboembolism (such as malignancy). There are few data regarding incidental PE in outpatients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or assessing whether these emboli occur centrally or peripherally in the pulmonary arteries.

Aims: To determine the rates of incidental central and peripheral PE in outpatients with proximal and distal DVT.

Dynamic four-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) imaging for re-entry risk assessment in re-do sternotomy - first experience.

Background: Repeat cardiac surgeries are well known to have higher rates of complications, one of the important reasons being injuries associated with re-do sternotomy. Routine imaging with CT can help to minimise this risk by pre-operatively assessing the anatomical relation between the sternum and the underlying cardiovascular structures, but is limited by its inability to determine the presence and severity of functional tethering and adhesions between these structures. However, with the evolution of wide area detector MD CT scanners, it is possible to assess the presence of tethering using the dynamic four-dimensional CT (4D CT) imaging technique.