STAT--how to make every minute count.

Several years ago, our community teaching hospital identified a need to improve patient care by streamlining the study performance workflow and hastening communication of critical study results to clinicians. "STAT" studies are a carefully selected subset of imaging studies that are prioritized due to their utility in assessing for emergent conditions including cerebrovascular accidents, pneumoperitoneum, and cardiac arrest. We describe the multiyear process of data collection, analysis, and departmental and hospital-wide system changes that significantly improved result times.

CT enterography vs. capsule endoscopy.

Small bowel imaging has been revolutionized by CT enterography and capsule endoscopy. We present an overview of both imaging modalities, discuss advantages and disadvantages of each, and compare findings in Crohn's disease, occult gastrointestinal bleeding, and small bowel tumors. Both methods complement each other often providing information that the other one cannot.

Ileal endometriosis: radiographic findings in five cases.

Purpose: To determine the radiographic findings in five patients with ileal endometriosis.

Materials And Methods: A search of radiology files revealed five patients with surgically proved endometriotic implants in the ileum at enteroclysis (three patients), at small-bowel follow-through (one patient), and at double-contrast barium enema study (one patient). The radiographic findings were reviewed retrospectively.

Central brain atrophy in childhood AIDS encephalopathy.

Objective: To determine differential patterns of brain atrophy in pediatric AIDS encephalopathy.

Design: We measured the bicaudate, bifrontal, and ventricle-brain ratio in brain magnetic resonance imaging scans of 42 control children, nine children with progressive AIDS encephalopathy, 25 AIDS children without progressive encephalopathy, and 23 children with cerebral atrophy of other causes.

Results: When compared with controls, encephalopathy patients showed significantly increased bicaudate and ventricle-brain ratios, but no significant increase in bifrontal ratio, whereas children with brain atrophy from causes other than AIDS showed increases in all three ratios.