Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Radiation oncologists must renew their focus on patient safety in the wake of several widely publicized errors in radiation therapy in recent years, according to a presentation at this week's American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) meeting in Miami Beach, FL.
Radiation oncology must also create a culture of safety dedicated to protecting patients, and pursue that goal with the same passion accorded to developing cutting-edge treatments, according to an article by associate editor Cynthia E. Keen, who is on hand in Miami Beach for the meeting, reporting for our Radiation Oncology Digital Community.
The article highlights comments by Dr. Anthony Zietman, ASTRO's president, and Gregory Jaczko, PhD, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Both believe that radiation safety can be improved without establishing punitive measures that might dissuade physicians from reporting medical events. Learn more by clicking here.
In other ASTRO coverage, study results demonstrated that higher radiation doses do not lead to more effective treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Researchers thought that a 74-Gy dose might be more effective than the standard 60-Gy dose. Unfortunately, patients treated with the stronger dose had no improvement in outcomes, and the study was stopped. Read the article by clicking here.
Get more ASTRO coverage this week in our Radiation Oncology Digital Community, at radiation.auntminnie.com.
MRI safety and implanted cardiac devices
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University for years have been using MRI to scan patients with implanted cardiac devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators -- despite the fact that MRI is contraindicated in these patients.
How did they do it? By developing a set of protocols for determining which implanted devices might be more amenable to MRI scanning, and by reprogramming the devices to continue to function under a scanner's powerful magnetic field. Learn more in our MRI Digital Community by clicking here, or go to mri.auntminnie.com.
