Coping with PACS downtime in digital radiology.

As radiology departments become increasingly reliant on picture archiving and communication systems, they become more vulnerable to computer downtime that can paralyze a smoothly running department. The experiences and strategies developed during various types of picture archiving and communication system (PACS) downtime in a large radiology department that has completely converted to soft copy interpretation in all modalities except mammography are presented. Because these failures can be minimized but not eliminated, careful planning is necessary to minimize their impact.

Acute effect of nicotine patch on gastric emptying of liquid and solid contents in healthy subjects.

The effect of nicotine on gastric emptying remains controversial. Gastric emptying is delayed in chronic smokers after smoking high-dose nicotine cigarettes, but it is unchanged after chewing nicotine gums. No information is available on the effect of transdermal nicotine patches on the gastric emptying of solid and liquid contents in healthy nonsmokers.

The impact of a picture archiving and communication system on nuclear medicine examination interpretation.

Radiographic correlation is essential for many of the examinations performed in nuclear medicine. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a picture archiving and communications system (PACS) on the function and efficiency of a nuclear medicine department at a tertiary care institution. We evaluated 250 consecutive noncardiac nuclear medicine imaging examinations and asked the interpreting physician the following questions: (1) Was PACS used in the interpretation of the study? (2) Did the use of PACS expedite examination completion or aid in study interpretation? And (3) Did the use of PACS permit a definitive diagnosis to be made? PACS was accessed for correlative radiographic images in 155 of the 250 (62%) nuclear medicine examinations.

Indium In-111 pentetreotide scintigraphy: application to carotid body tumors.

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate and illustrate the use of Indium In-111 pentetreotide scintigraphy as it applies to carotid body tumors (CBT). Localization has relied primarily on ultrasonography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging with angiographic confirmation. These methods only assess the cervical bifurcation without providing an evaluation of metastasis in patients without symptoms or recurrence in patients after surgery.