Dear AuntMinnie Member,
It's déjà vu all over again: On the eve of radiology's most important scientific conference, a national medical guidelines group has cast doubt on the efficacy of routine breast screening with a new clinical recommendation.
This time it's 2011, not 2009, and the guidelines are being issued by a Canadian group rather than the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. However, yesterday's announcement is sure to be a topic of conversation when the RSNA meeting convenes on Sunday in Chicago.
In its November 21 bombshell, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care changed its recommendation on screening for women ages 50 to 74, stating that screening every two to three years is sufficient, as opposed to annual exams. The task force also stood by its pre-existing position that screening for women ages 40 to 49 is not recommended based on its analysis of the benefits and harms of screening in younger women.
The announcement immediately drew condemnation from mammography proponents, who were particularly incensed that the opinion was accompanied by a letter of commendation from a Danish research group, the Nordic Cochrane Centre, which has become the bête noire of breast imaging proponents.
Read all about this newest fracas in an article by associate editor Kate Madden Yee in our Women's Imaging Digital Community. You'll find the article by clicking here, or go to women.auntminnie.com.
Get your RSNA on with AuntMinnie's RADCast
Looking for reactions to the Canadian news from next week's RSNA meeting? Or any other developments from radiology's showcase conference, for that matter? Then be sure to check out our RADCast @ RSNA, with coverage starting Sunday, November 27.
We'll highlight all the latest news from the Chicago meeting, including plenary sessions, scientific presentations, and posters, as well as breaking news from the plethora of imaging vendors exhibiting at the meeting.
If you're still preparing your RSNA schedule, don't make a move without consulting our Road to RSNA preview of the scientific sessions and posters at McCormick Place, available at rsna.auntminnie.com. We've broken everything down into modality-by-modality sections to make it easy for you to find exactly what you're interested in.
So, we'd like to wish our U.S. readers a happy Thanksgiving Day holiday, and we're looking forward to seeing all of you in Chicago in just a few days. Make sure to stop by the AuntMinnie.com booth, #5000 in Hall A (South Building), and say hello!
