Core and Advanced Thoracic Imaging Curricula to Guide Residency and Fellowship Training: A Framework From the Canadian Society of Thoracic Radiology.

Rationale: A well-defined curriculum with goals and objectives is an inherent part of every radiology training program.

Materials And Methods: Following a needs assessment, the Canadian Society of Thoracic Radiology Education Committee developed a thoracic imaging curriculum using a mixed- method approach, complimentary to the cardiac curriculum published as a separate document.

Results: The Thoracic Imaging Curriculum consists of two separate yet complimentary parts: a Core Curriculum, aimed at residents in-training, with the main goal of building a strong foundational knowledge, and an Advanced Curriculum, designed to build upon the core knowledge and guide a more in-depth subspecialty training.

Canadian Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection Cohort Study: 3-Year Outcomes.

Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an important cause of myocardial infarction (MI) in young to middle-aged women.

Objectives: We aim to define the long-term natural history of SCAD.

Methods: We performed a multicenter, prospective, observational study of patients with nonatherosclerotic SCAD presenting acutely from 22 North American centers.

The Status of Specialized Ambulatory Heart Failure Care in Canada: A Joint Canadian Heart Failure Society and Canadian Cardiovascular Society Heart Failure Guidelines Survey.

This joint Canadian Heart Failure Society and the CCS Heart Failure guidelines report has been developed to provide a pan-Canadian snapshot of the current state of clinic-based ambulatory heart failure (HF) care in Canada with specific reference to elements and processes of care associated with quality and high performing health systems. It includes the viewpoints of persons with lived experience, patient care providers, and administrators. It is imperative to build on the themes identified in this survey, through engaging all health care professionals, to develop integrated and shared care models that will allow better patient outcomes.

Canadian spontaneous coronary artery dissection cohort study: in-hospital and 30-day outcomes.

Aims: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) was underdiagnosed and poorly understood for decades. It is increasingly recognized as an important cause of myocardial infarction (MI) in women. We aimed to assess the natural history of SCAD, which has not been adequately explored.

Efficacy of twice-daily vs once-daily sessions of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of major depressive disorder: a retrospective study.

Purpose: There is no clinical consensus on the optimal protocol for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Accelerated protocols using more than a single session of treatment per day have been suggested as a means to reduce the overall length of time required for rTMS therapy. The objective of this study is to compare the treatment outcomes of patients with MDD who received two sessions of rTMS per day vs those who received one session per day, keeping the overall number of delivered pulses constant.

Impaired trial-by-trial adjustment of cognitive control in obsessive compulsive disorder improves after deep repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Background: Adaptive decision making requires the adjustment of behaviour following an error. Some theories suggest that repetitive thoughts and behaviours in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are driven by malfunctioning error monitoring. This malfunction may relate to demonstrated hyperactivity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), including the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex.

Long-term changes in bone mineral density in kidney transplant recipients.

Background: Alterations in bone mineral metabolism occur when kidney function declines and often continue after transplantation. We investigated long-term changes in bone mineral density (BMD) among kidney transplant recipients undergoing routine clinical BMD monitoring and management.

Methods: We identified adults receiving a kidney transplant in the province of Manitoba, Canada (1996-2011) who had greater than or equal to 2 posttransplant dual energy X-ray absorptiometry examinations.

Effect of time on dialysis and renal transplantation on endothelial function: a longitudinal analysis.

Background: Soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) is a marker of endothelial injury and a potent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in patients with kidney failure on dialysis. The longitudinal effects of dialysis on endothelial dysfunction and in particular the effects of renal transplantation on markers of endothelial function including sVCAM-1 have not been well characterized.

Methods: We used the Transplant Manitoba registry and biobank to assemble a retrospective cohort of all patients receiving a first kidney transplant between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2005 (n=186).

FRAX predicts fracture risk in kidney transplant recipients.

Background: The World Health Organization Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) estimates the 10-year fracture probability. We assessed the prognostic value of FRAX in kidney transplant recipients, as its utility in recipients is unknown.

Methods: We considered 458 individuals (mean age 45 years, 64% men) who received a kidney transplant in the province of Manitoba, Canada at the time of their first bone mineral density (BMD) test posttransplant (mean 1.

The acutely occluded left main coronary artery culprit in cardiogenic shock and initial percutaneous coronary intervention: a substudy of the Manitoba "no option" left main PCI registry.

We aim to describe the in-hospital outcomes of the first reported Canadian cohort of patients with cardiogenic shock and acute myocardial infarction (MI) due to acute and total occlusion of the left main coronary artery, treated with initial percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Acute left main thromboses with cardiogenic shock were identified (N = 8) from a retrospective consecutive cohort of high risk left main PCI (N = 56) performed at our institution from 2004-2009. The mean age was 62.

Reductions in workload and reporting time by use of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus screening with MRSASelect medium compared to mannitol-salt medium supplemented with oxacillin.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a significant pathogen in both nosocomial and community settings, and screening for carriers is an important infection control practice in many hospitals. In this retrospective study, we demonstrate that the implementation of an MRSA screening protocol using a selective chromogenic medium (MRSASelect) reduced the workload for this screening test by 63.7% overall and by 12.

A comparison of the effects of fish oil and flaxseed oil on cardiac allograft chronic rejection in rats.

Both fish and flaxseed oils are major sources of different n-3 fatty acids. Beneficial effects of fish oil on posttransplantation complications have been reported. The current study aimed to compare the effects of flaxseed and fish oils in a rat cardiac allograft model.

Access to and use of physician resources by the rural and urban populations in Manitoba.

This paper examines access to and use of the physician resources for ambulatory care by residents of Winnipeg and rural areas in Manitoba. Analyses were conducted on physician claims submitted to Manitoba Health in the fiscal years 1986-87 and 1991-92. The percentage of people who made contact with physicians, the number of visits per 100 residents, and the number of visits per user were used to asses changes between 1986 and 1991.

Parathyroid adenomas without sestamibi retention.

The authors describe two patients in whom parathyroid adenomas were successfully localized with a Tc-99m sestamibi/pertechnetate subtraction technique, but who did not exhibit differential sestamibi retention on delayed imaging. Although the frequency of this occurrence is unclear, it suggests that some parathyroid adenomas will be missed if reliance is placed on sestamibi retention alone without simultaneous thyroid imaging.

Reference range determination: the problem of small sample sizes.

The process of developing and validating a quantitative test includes determination of a reference range. Traditionally this has been taken as the mean +/- 2 standard deviations for a random sampling from a reference population. However, this method fails to recognize the substantial variability in the sample mean and standard deviation for the small sample sizes frequently encountered in nuclear medicine.