The Clinical Impact of Resident-attending Discrepancies in On-call Radiology Reporting: A Retrospective Assessment.

Rationale And Objectives: The purpose of this study is to quantify the clinical impact of resident-attending discrepancies at a tertiary referral academic radiology residency program by assessing rates of intervention, discrepancy confirmation, recall rate, and management change rate; furthermore, a discrepancy categorization system will be assessed.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective review of the records was performed for n = 1482 discrepancies that occurred in the 17-month study period to assess the clinical impact of discrepancies. Discrepancies were grouped according to a previously published classification system.

Mediastinal and Pleural MR Imaging: Practical Approach for Daily Practice.

Radiologists in any practice setting should be prepared to use thoracic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for noncardiac and nonangiographic applications. This begins with understanding the sequence building blocks that can be used to design effective thoracic MR imaging protocols. In most instances, the sequences used in thoracic MR imaging are adapted from protocols used elsewhere in the body.

Body composition determinants of radiation dose during abdominopelvic CT.

Objectives: We designed a prospective study to investigate the in-vivo relationship between abdominal body composition and radiation exposure to determine the strongest body composition predictor of dose length product (DLP) at CT.

Methods: Following institutional review board approval, quantitative analysis was performed prospectively on 239 consecutive patients who underwent abdominopelvic CT. DLP, BMI, volumes of abdominal adipose tissue, muscle, bone and solid organs were recorded.

Cardiopulmonary Manifestations of Collagen Vascular Diseases.

Purpose Of Review: The study aimed to illustrate the cardiopulmonary findings of the following collagen vascular diseases on cross-sectional imaging: rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma (progressive systemic sclerosis), systemic lupus erythematosus, the inflammatory myopathies (polymyositis/dermatomyositis), and Sjögren's syndrome.

Recent Findings: Although collagen vascular diseases can affect any part of the body, interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension are the two most important cardiopulmonary complications and are responsible for the majority of morbidity and mortality in this patient population. Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF) is a newly described entity that encompasses interstitial lung disease in patients with clinical, serologic, or morphologic features suggestive of but not diagnostic of collagen vascular disease; these patients are thought to have better outcomes than idiopathic interstitial pneumonias.

Drill-Assisted Biopsy of the Axial and Appendicular Skeleton: Safety, Technical Success, and Diagnostic Efficacy.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety, technical success rate, and diagnostic efficacy of drill-assisted axial and appendicular bone biopsies. During a 3-y period, 703 drill-assisted biopsies were performed. The cohort included 54.

Tailgut Cyst and Perineal Hydatid Cyst: A Case Report with Multimodality Imaging Findings.

A tailgut cyst is a rare developmental lesion and usually is located in the retrorectal or presacral space. Extrahepatic hydatid disease has been reported in several locations including the pelvis and it often poses a diagnostic challenge. There are very few reported cases of primary perineal hydatid cysts.

The red connection: a review of aortic and arterial fistulae with an emphasis on CT findings.

Fistulae between the aorta and adjacent structures are a rare, emergent, and potentially life-threatening process. Most commonly, aortic fistulae arise secondarily as a complication of prior aortic surgery with fistulization to adjacent structures. Rarely, a primary fistula may arise from the aorta in the setting of a pre-existing aneurysm or from a mass, inflammation, or infection.

Results of the 2015 Survey of the American Alliance of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology.

Rationale And Objectives: The American Alliance of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology conducts an annual survey of chief residents in Diagnostic Radiology programs in North America. The survey serves as a resource for observing trends and disseminating ideas among radiology training programs.

Materials And Methods: An online survey was distributed to chief residents at 181 residency programs, with questions on a broad range of topics including resident benefits, program and call structure, American Board of Radiology Core exam preparation, fellowships, and the job market.

Reduction of guide needle streak artifact in CT-guided biopsy.

Purpose: Computed tomography (CT)-guided core needle biopsy (CNB) can be affected by streak artifact obscuring the needle tip. This study investigates factors that influence the occurrence and severity of streak artifact during CNB.

Materials And Methods: Eight coaxial guide needles of two sizes from two manufacturers with and without stylets were imaged in a CT phantom, with CT reconstructed with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction and filtered back projection.

A prospective feasibility study of sub-millisievert abdominopelvic CT using iterative reconstruction in Crohn's disease.

Objective: Iterative reconstruction (IR) allows diagnostic CT imaging with less radiation exposure than filtered back projection (FBP). We studied an IR low-dose CT abdomen/pelvis (LDCTAP) protocol, designed to image at an effective dose (ED) approximating 1 mSv in patients with Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: Forty patients, mean age 37 ± 13.

Computed tomography assessment of intestinal gas volumes in functional gastrointestinal disorders.

Background/aims: Many patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) rank sensations of bloating and distension among their most debilitating symptoms. Previous studies that have examined intestinal gas volume (IGV) in patients with FGIDs have employed a variety of invasive and imaging techniques. These studies are limited by small numbers and have shown conflicting results.

CT-based estimation of intracavitary gas volumes using threshold-based segmentation: in vitro study to determine the optimal threshold range.

Introduction: This study investigated the optimal Hounsfield unit (HU) threshold range when using threshold-based segmentation to estimate volumes of contained gas (i.e. intestinal gas) on CT.

Is serum C-reactive protein a reliable predictor of abdomino-pelvic CT findings in the clinical setting of the non-traumatic acute abdomen?

The aim of this study was to determine if serum C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase reactant which exhibits a rapid rise in serum in inflammatory conditions, is a reliable predictor of abdomino-pelvic CT findings in the clinical setting of the non-traumatic acute abdomen. All patients presenting with symptoms of acute abdominal pain to a level-1 emergency department over a 12-month period were included. Patients with serum CRP measured on admission and within 24 h of the abdomino-pelvic CT scan were subselected and those with a history of recent surgery, malignancy, and inflammatory bowel disease were excluded (n = 241).

Development of low-dose protocols for thin-section CT assessment of cystic fibrosis in pediatric patients.

Purpose: To develop low-dose thin-section computed tomographic (CT) protocols for assessment of cystic fibrosis (CF) in pediatric patients and determine the clinical usefulness thereof compared with chest radiography.

Materials And Methods: After institutional review board approval and informed consent from patients or guardians were obtained, 14 patients with CF and 11 patients without CF (16 male, nine female; mean age, 12.6 years ± 5.

Maintenance hemodialysis patients have high cumulative radiation exposure.

Hemodialysis is associated with an increased risk of neoplasms which may result, at least in part, from exposure to ionizing radiation associated with frequent radiographic procedures. In order to estimate the average radiation exposure of those on hemodialysis, we conducted a retrospective study of 100 patients in a university-based dialysis unit followed for a median of 3.4 years.

Dentists' approach to patients on anti-platelet agents and warfarin: a survey of practice.

Unlabelled: In everyday practice, dentists are confronted with the dilemma of patients on anti-platelet agents and warfarin who require invasive dental procedures and, more pertinently, dental extractions. There may be a divergence of opinion among dentists regarding how they manage these patients.

Aims: To assess general dental practitioners' approach to the management of patients taking anti-platelet agents and/or warfarin who are undergoing invasive dental procedures.