Dear CT Insider,
Pulmonary embolism strikes more than a half-million people annually in the U.S. alone, killing as many as a quarter of them within a year. Fortunately, CT has proved adept at detecting the presence of dangerous clots, and as a result has come to dominate the diagnostic work once relegated to other techniques such as V/Q scintigraphy and pulmonary angiography.
The state of CT for PE -- and where it might be heading -- is the focus of today's CT Insider.
First, cardiopulmonary imaging expert Dr. Martine Rémy-Jardin from the University of Lille in France offers a rare discussion of chronic PE, which occurs when emboli from acute PE fail to resolve normally over time.
Rémy-Jardin explains the four key imaging signs radiologists should look for when they suspect chronic PE, together with a discussion of its etiology and progression, and imaging tips for helping surgeons plan pulmonary thromboendarterectomy. You'll find the discussion in our Insider Exclusive article, made available to our CT Insider subscribers before other AuntMinnie members can access it.
Also, in today's CT Digital Community, researchers from Cleveland examine the trend toward increasing use of CT to rule out suspected acute PE. Dr. J. David Prologo and colleagues found that while CT exams are being ordered more frequently, the positivity rate is falling steadily. At what point do the risks of scanning and therapy outweigh the potential benefit of finding more emboli, they ask, inasmuch as the risks associated with the smallest clots haven't been adequately assessed?
Finally, a leading Canadian researcher talks about diagnosing acute PE in clinical practice. In a talk at the International Congress of Radiology, Dr. John Mayo from the University of British Columbia shared his years of experience in acquiring and interpreting the exams, and the trends shaping up in this important CT application, here.
There's more to CT than PE, of course. Scroll down for a wealth of other topics in this Insider issue, from new appendicitis studies to new trends in asbestos-related disease. In cardiovascular imaging, you'll find discussions of carotid artery imaging, CT of coronary bypass grafts, and the marketing of former U.S. President Bill Clinton's heart troubles.
