Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Is MRI being overused for lower back pain? Researchers from Arizona and Australia tackled this question, and their findings made for the top story on AuntMinnie.com for the past week.
It's been widely suspected that too many patients are being referred to MRI before more conservative therapy has been tried. So the group tracked the number of MRI scans that occurred before conservative treatment, finding that 40% of men and 37% of women were being scanned before the less aggressive treatment was tried.
In other MRI news, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital found that 7-tesla MRI could provide value in predicting the progression of multiple sclerosis. MRI can also provide valuable information prior to surgery in cases of acute anterior cruciate ligament injury.
News from AIUM
In other news, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) meeting wrapped up this week in Orlando, FL, and Editor Kate Madden Yee was onsite covering the news for our Ultrasound Community.
Our top story from the meeting was an article that compared transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) to MRI for prostate cancer diagnosis. Another top story was a study that found that when sonographers suffer from ergonomics issues, the quality of care they deliver declines. Many ergonomics problems can be addressed with simple fixes, according to the study authors.
Additional important news from AIUM 2019 included a study on the use of two different thermal ablation methods for treating benign thyroid nodules and a study on the use of a quantitative ultrasound technique for a variety of clinical applications.
Board Review at AUR
But AIUM wasn't the only conference underway this week. The Association of University Radiologists (AUR) just concluded its annual meeting in Baltimore, and we were on hand showing our new Board Review question bank.
Board Review now includes more than 350 questions on 12 important topics. You can take the questions in either study mode, with explanations provided after each question, or exam mode, which simulates the actual exam environment with a timer and masked explanations.
We think you'll find Board Review to be a great resource for either board prep or general education. Check it out, and thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello at AUR 2019!
