Using 3D printed models for planning and guidance during endovascular intervention: a technical advance.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing applications in medicine have been limited due to high cost and technical difficulty of creating 3D printed objects. It is not known whether patient-specific, hollow, small-caliber vascular models can be manufactured with 3D printing, and used for small vessel endoluminal testing of devices. Manufacture of anatomically accurate, patient-specific, small-caliber arterial models was attempted using data from a patient's CT scan, free open-source software, and low-cost Internet 3D printing services.

Temporary distal balloon occlusion for hepatic embolization: a novel technique to treat what cannot be selected.

Purpose: Particle embolotherapy for liver cancers, such as chemoembolization and yttrium-90 radioembolization, depends on microcatheter selection of the treatment vessel for injection of the embolic. Individually selecting vessels with a microcatheter can be time-consuming and difficult, especially when multiple branches are present in the treatment zone. This article describes a technique to perform an "inverse" embolization-protection of the selected vessel and embolization of the unselected vessels-a technique that has not yet been described.

Emergency Physicians Research Common Problems in Proportion to their Frequency.

Introduction: Emergency medicine (EM) organizations such as the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the Institute of Medicine have called for more clinical research as a way of addressing the scarcity of research in EM. Previous investigations have examined funding and productivity in EM research, but whether EM researchers preferentially concentrate on certain patient-related topics is not known. We hypothesized that at least part of the scarcity of EM research is from the tendency of EM researchers, like researchers in other fields, to focus on rarer conditions with higher morbidity or mortality instead of on more common conditions with less acuity.

Percutaneous vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty for pathologic vertebral fractures in the Medicare population: safer and less expensive than open surgery.

Purpose: To compare cost and outcomes of surgical and percutaneous treatments of pathologic vertebral fractures.

Materials And Methods: Standard Medicare 5% anonymized inpatient files (1999-2009) were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with a diagnosis of vertebral fracture without spinal cord injury and primary or metastatic bony malignancy were divided into percutaneous or surgical groups based on whether they received vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty or surgical treatment.

Changes in stroke research productivity: A global perspective.

Background: While stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide, little work has been done to quantify the growth and progress of stroke publications. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively analyze trends in the stroke literature over the past 12 years, specifically examining changes in worldwide productivity and study methodology.

Methods: The study was a retrospective bibliometric analysis of all stroke articles published between 1996 and 2008 indexed in MEDLINE.

Research productivity in neurosurgery: trends in globalization, scientific focus, and funding.

Object: While research is important for the survival, growth, and expansion of neurosurgery, little work has been done to quantify the status and trends of neurosurgical publications. The purpose of this bibliometric study was to quantitatively analyze trends in neurosurgical publications, including changes in worldwide productivity, study methodology, subspecialty topic, and funding.

Methods: This was a retrospective bibliometric study using MEDLINE to record all publications between 1996 and 2009 by first authors affiliated with neurosurgical departments.

Interventional oncology research in the United States: slowing growth, limited focus, and a low level of funding.

Purpose: To establish the characteristics of published interventional oncology (IO) research, including the volume, growth, geographic distribution, type of research, and funding patterns, and to determine how IO research compares with overall radiology research.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective bibliometric analysis of public data was exempt from Institutional Review Board approval. IO articles published between 1996 and 2008 were identified in the National Library of Medicine MEDLINE database.

Cardiac CT research: exponential growth.

Purpose: To evaluate the increase in cardiac x-ray computed tomographic (CT) research and the relative contributions of radiologists and cardiologists.

Materials And Methods: This observational study of public data was exempt from institutional review board approval. The National Library of Medicine MEDLINE database was searched for articles published between 1996 and 2006 in which CT was used to acquire images of the heart.

The impact of National Institutes of Health funding on U.S. cardiovascular disease research.

Background: Intense interest surrounds the recent expansion of US National Institutes of Health (NIH) budgets as part of economic stimulus legislation. However, the relationship between NIH funding and cardiovascular disease research is poorly understood, making the likely impact of this policy change unclear.

Methods: The National Library of Medicine's PubMed database was searched for articles published from 1996 to 2006, originating from U.

Impact of the National Institutes of Health on radiology research.

Purpose: To retrospectively quantify the characteristics of published radiology research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to retrospectively characterize the contribution of the individual NIH institutes.

Materials And Methods: The National Library of Medicine's PubMed database was searched for all articles published by U.S.

Characteristics and trends of published emergency medicine research.

Objectives: Despite its importance in improving patient care, the state of published emergency medicine (EM) research is poorly understood. The countries of origin, methodological characteristics, sources of funding, and ongoing trends in this research are unknown. Knowledge of these characteristics has important policy, research, and clinical implications for academic EM.

Factors associated with academic radiology research productivity.

Purpose: To determine factors associated with research productivity among all university radiology departments in the United States.

Materials And Methods: As an observational study, this was exempt from institutional review board approval. All 47,299 radiology articles from 1996 through 2003 that were indexed in the National Library of Medicine MEDLINE database were studied.

Small bowel obstruction caused by a congenital jejuno-jejuno band in a child.

A case of small bowel obstruction in a 4-year-old boy with pica is described. The child habitually chewed on his plastic toy action figures. Abdominal radiography and endoscopy confirmed the presence of chewed pieces of plastic within the digestive tract.