Week in review: Federal Helium Reserve sale | ACR CEO talks clinical decision support | Alcohol addiction

Jan 27, 2024

Dear AuntMinnie Member,

This week we're highlighting some big news: the sale and privatization of the U.S. Federal Helium Reserve. The deal is prompting questions and concerns on the potential for an interruption in the supply of helium for cooling MRI scanners. Keep your eyes peeled for more coverage of this story as experts weigh in.

We've also posted some great video interviews this week, one with American College of Radiology (ACR) CEO William T. Thorwarth Jr., MD, on appropriate use criteria and clinical decision support, and another in which Bersu Ozcan, MD, and Jessica Porembka, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, discuss breast cancer disparities.

Two stories on alcohol addiction made our most-read list: a report on an Australian radiologist charged with a DUI and research that shows how PET imaging can reveal brain activity related to the disease.

Also of interest to readers -- in our Practice Management content area -- was a story on a comorbidity index developed by the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute (HPI) to help predict the use of advanced imaging. In our Digital X-Ray content area, we reported on how lithium treatment may promote bone health in women with bipolar disorder. Three AI content area articles generated attention, one on the RSNA's statement on the use of AI in radiology, another on how ChatGPT shows promise for bone tumor diagnosis, and another on how human-AI "symbiosis" could affect chest x-ray.

Finally, coverage of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) clearance of Siemens Healthineers' remote scanning software were among our most highly viewed stories, as were stories on variations in Pluvicto prostate cancer treatment protocols around the world, how PET/CT improves diagnostic biopsy rates in lung cancer patients, and the unsettling higher incidence of breast cancer in younger women.

A full list of the week's top stories is below:

$35-year-old transgender woman presents with (A) a 3D CT reformation of the face in the sagittal plane showing a left mandibular fracture (arrow). (B) An axial head CT image from one of three head CT studies over the last two years reveals right periorbital soft tissue swelling (arrow). The radiologist reader suspected intimate partner violence based on radiology reports, which was subsequently confirmed through clinical note examination. Image courtesy of the RSNA.$