Dear AuntMinnie Member,
VIENNA - The European debt crisis has been making headlines for the past year, but there were no signs of a slowdown at this week's European Congress of Radiology (ECR), which drew to a close yesterday.
The halls of Austria Center Vienna were crowded as attendees jammed both the scientific sessions and vendor exhibits. ECR 2012 attendees also enjoyed the conference's unique cultural offerings, including lunchtime musical performances. Check out some of the photos and videos in the media gallery of our RADCast @ ECR.
On the scientific side, breast tomosynthesis was one of the hottest topics at this week's meeting, with a number of research studies presented pointing to dramatically higher sensitivity for the technique compared to standard full-field digital mammography.
Also, French researchers performed an intriguing study of the use of gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents in patients on dialysis for kidney disease. Fascinatingly, they found no cases of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients who got the contrast.
In another intriguing presentation, Dutch radiologist Dr. Erik Ranschaert spoke about the potential impact of teleradiology and mobile devices on how radiologists perform their jobs. Dr. Ranschaert provided results of a recent survey tracking how European radiology professionals use teleradiology. Learn more by clicking here.
Reducing and tracking radiation dose has become a major issue in both the U.S. and Europe; researchers from the Republic of Ireland tracked diagnostic reference levels and found them to be outdated. Could this be a cautionary tale for other countries?
Finally, a group in Germany found that PET/MRI performs well in assessing pulmonary masses. The hybrid modality produced similar lesion characterization and tumor staging to PET/CT in seven of 10 patients in the study.
For more stories from ECR 2012, check out our RADCast @ ECR by visiting radcast.auntminnieeurope.com.
Auf Wiedersehen!
