Dear Ultrasound Insider,
Carotid ultrasound studies can offer considerable diagnostic value. However, successful practitioners of these exams need to be cognizant of a number of potential pitfalls, including technical factors, patient limitations, and interpretation errors, according to Dr. John Pellerito of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY.
To avoid these pitfalls, users must review the grayscale, color Doppler, and pulsed Doppler components of the exam, integrate them, and resolve any discrepancies, Pellerito said. He shared his advice on optimizing carotid ultrasound during a talk earlier this year at the Leading Edge in Diagnostic Ultrasound conference in Atlantic City, NJ.
As an Insider subscriber, you have access to this Insider Exclusive before it is published for the rest of our AuntMinnie.com members. To learn more, click here.
In other articles we're featuring this month in our Ultrasound Digital Community, ultrasound was judged to be superior to scintigraphy in evaluating gallbladder function using sincalide cholecystokinin. Also, international editor Eric Barnes has our coverage of a new Texas law that requires insurers to pay for ultrasound (and CT) scans for atherosclerosis screening.
In addition, a new breast ultrasound computer-aided detection application is showing promise for detecting early breast cancers in whole-breast ultrasound images. You can read that article by clicking here.
More-detailed second-trimester ultrasound exams were also recently determined to catch more fetal abnormalities than basic scans. As a result, current U.S. reimbursement policy may need updating, according to the research team led by Dr. Stephen Chasen of Weill Cornell Medical College. For that article, click here.
Finally, learn why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General is becoming concerned over the number of questionable reimbursement claims for ultrasound services.
Do you have an idea for a topic you'd like to see covered? As always, please feel free to drop me a line.
