Dear AuntMinnie Member,
This week's radiology headlines were dominated by news of a tie-up between Japanese medical imaging vendors, with Fujifilm agreeing to acquire Hitachi's medical imaging business.
The $1.63 billion deal would create a new multimodality vendor that could vie with the Big Four for large medical equipment contracts with hospitals and health systems. The new company would have revenues of around $1.31 billion and would marry Fujifilm's strengths in enterprise imaging software and digital x-ray with Hitachi's big iron business.
The deal illustrates that Fujifilm is serious about building its position in healthcare -- a move that mirrors steps taken by other global conglomerates that have chosen to make healthcare a core business.
Breast cancer survivors
Another important story emerged this week, this one in women's imaging. Researchers found that women who had survived 10 years after a diagnosis of breast cancer were actually more likely to die of diseases other than breast cancer.
The news underscores the immense progress that has been made in detecting and treating breast cancer, such that women are surviving longer and a cancer diagnosis is no longer the death sentence it once was.
In other women's imaging news, an artificial intelligence algorithm that was used to analyze screening mammograms that had been classified as negative worked better at predicting future risk of breast cancer than risk models based on breast density measurements.
Get these stories and more in our Women's Imaging Community.
CT of vaping
And more news has emerged on the value of CT for lung injury related to vaping with electronic cigarettes. Radiologists from New Jersey provided a case study of a 25-year-old woman who initially was suspected of having walking pneumonia but later turned out to have electronic cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). Learn more in the CT Community.
Finally, we'd like to take this moment to thank all our loyal readers and sponsors for your support in 2019. AuntMinnie.com celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, and it wouldn't have been possible without you.
This will be our last Week in Review newsletter of the year, but be sure to check back next week for more holiday treats, including our rundown of the top 10 stories of the year in radiology.
Thanks again, and happy holidays!
