Dear AuntMinnie Member,
The headlines are buzzing this week about the contents of a letter released by the personal physician of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that details the medical care she's received over the past year. Lost in the shuffle, however, is the key role that medical imaging has played in directing her care.
The letter was produced to assuage concern over an episode Mrs. Clinton experienced over the weekend, when she left a 9/11 memorial early and appeared shaky. In the letter, her personal physician attributed the episode to an undisclosed case of bacterial pneumonia that she had been dealing with since September 2.
Closer inspection of the letter revealed that Mrs. Clinton has undergone medical imaging procedures several times in recent months. In particular, a CT scan helped diagnose her pneumonia, and data from the scan were also used to generate a coronary calcium score (which was 0, in case you were wondering). Learn more about the letter by clicking here.
While you're in our CT Community, be sure to check out this article on how researchers from Alabama found that extracting data on bone density and muscle mass from CT scans could help predict which patients with prostate cancer had a greater risk of death. Get these stories and more at ct.auntminnie.com.
Should breast density be part of MQSA?
Should regulations on reporting breast density be added to the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA)? A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is debating that very proposal today in a meeting in Gaithersburg, MD.
Multiple states have passed legislation requiring imaging practices to report breast density to patients. But this has created a patchwork of rules across the country. Adding breast density provisions to MQSA would take an important step toward standardizing practice across the U.S.
Materials released in advance of today's hearing provided some indication of which way the FDA is leaning. Learn more by clicking here, and check back in our Women's Imaging Community for our coverage of the meeting.
Andy and Ryan's first date
Finally, the relationship between Andy and Ryan in our #MyRadGirlfriend cartoon is beginning to blossom -- in fact, this week marks their first date. Find out where they go by clicking here.
