Dear CT Insider,
For a few musculoskeletal conditions that can't be diagnosed with static images -- for example, joint instability in osteoarthritis -- CT can do the job in a fairly straightforward way, according to a new study from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
With the aid of dual-source CT and an imaging protocol very similar to tumor perfusion scanning, the researchers were able to diagnose wrist instability in a pilot study. Find out how it works -- and what still needs improving -- in this issue's Insider Exclusive, brought to our Insider subscribers before it's made available on the general site.
A different perfusion scanning protocol is making news in lung cancer screening, where deciding whether a nodule is benign or potentially malignant is surely one of radiology's toughest jobs. Japanese researchers say they can distinguish malignant lesions with high levels of accuracy using a 320-detector-row CT scanner and a series of formulae that measure attenuation patterns. The real surprise was that, overall, every measure helped point the way to the correct answer, they said. Get the rest of the story here.
Following up all those suspicious lung nodules remains a challenge, concludes another new study in Radiology. When University of Alabama researchers took a good hard look at their postsurveillance batting average, they found that reader agreement at follow-up was pretty low for changes in tumor margins and attenuation, but it was high for some other kinds of findings. Find out what needs improvement by clicking here.
In a new cardiac imaging study, CT not only outperformed SPECT for the diagnosis of myocardial perfusion, it was cheaper, too, according to researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina. Best of all, the CT group just might live longer.
Finally, concerns about radiation exposure to the eye lens aren't trivial considering CT's rapid growth in head and neck imaging. So it's good news that researchers in Japan found a way to cut the dose considerably.
And there's more! We invite you to scroll through the links below for all the CT news in your CT Digital Community.
