Tracking delays in report availability caused by incorrect exam status with Web-based issue tracking: a quality initiative.

Many radiology information systems (RIS) cannot accept a final report from a dictation reporting system before the exam has been completed in the RIS by a technologist. A radiologist can still render a report in a reporting system once images are available, but the RIS and ancillary systems may not get the results because of the study's uncompleted status. This delay in completing the study caused an alarming number of delayed reports and was undetected by conventional RIS reporting techniques.

Biomechanics of vertebral bone augmentation.

Percutaneous vertebral augmentation is a successful means of relieving pain and reducing disability after vertebral compression fracture; however, the exact mechanism by which vertebral augmentation eliminates pain remains unproven. Most likely, pain relief is because of stabilization of microfractures. The biomechanical effects of vertebral fracture and subsequent vertebral augmentation therapy, however, are topics for continued investigation.