Dear AuntMinnie Member,
A study published this week in Radiology highlights preoperative MRI's potential role in changing the surgical management of patients with prostate cancer.
In a story in our MRI Digital Community, features editor Wayne Forrest describes how researchers from Los Angeles used MRI before performing robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) in a group of about 100 patients. Their goal was to see if MRI could help surgeons avoid damaging patients' nerves, which can be a risk with RALP due to the lack of tactile feedback during the robotic procedure.
The researchers found that preoperative MRI was indeed helpful, with surgical management changed in 27% of patients. Learn more about MRI's impact by clicking here.
In other news, learn about how U.K. researchers used MRI to investigate whether the same brain activity caused by psychedelic mushrooms could also be harnessed to develop pharmaceutical treatments for depression.
And finally, researchers in Boston used the modality to identify reading problems in children that might later develop into dyslexia.
These stories and more are available in your MRI Digital Community, at mri.auntminnie.com.
Contrast affects thyroid function
Also new this week is our coverage of a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine that links the use of iodinated contrast media to changes in thyroid function.
Researchers from Boston found that iodinated contrast affected several measures of thyroid function, perhaps due to the large doses of iodide employed compared to the recommended daily intake. Iodinated contrast was linked to incident hyperthyroidism, according to an article by international editor Eric Barnes.
More research is needed, but the findings suggest that sites administering iodinated contrast might want to consider monitoring thyroid function in addition to other signs indicating that a patient might be reacting to the contrast, such as contrast-induced nephropathy.
Learn more by clicking here, or visit the CT Digital Community at ct.auntminnie.com.
