Dear AuntMinnie Member,
What happened when a woman began experiencing neck pain after a dental procedure? Fortunately, medical imaging was available to diagnose what the authors believe was the first reported case of an ingested dental needle causing neck pain.
The needle was first detected with x-ray. The reconstructed 3D CT images that were acquired next clearly show the needle embedded in her neck. Our report on the case study was the most-viewed article on AuntMinnie.com in the past week.
CTA of COVID-19
The jury has gone back and forth on the utility of CT for diagnosing COVID-19 during the pandemic. A new study indicates that CT angiography is an effective way to diagnose pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with the respiratory disease.
Researchers from Michigan found that patients who were obese had a risk of PE that was almost three times greater than COVID-19 patients who weren't obese. The findings could help explain the higher mortality rate found among obese individuals with COVID-19.
In other CT news, researchers from New York City found that CT angiography (CTA) was the most widely used modality for PE diagnosis, despite a lack of guidance on when to use CTA in specific patient groups. And the past week saw us report on two new studies using artificial intelligence (AI) for CT scans, one for COVID-19 and another for traumatic brain injury.
Webinar review
Finally, we'd like to thank everyone who logged on for our webinar on Wednesday on radiology continuity in the age of COVID-19. Hundreds of radiology professionals listened as three key opinion leaders -- Dr. Daniel Durand of LifeBridge Health, Dr. Jennifer Kemp of Diversified Radiology, and Dr. Krishna Nallamshetty of Radiology Associates of Florida -- discussed how their practices reacted and adapted to the COVID-19 outbreak.
If you weren't able to join us, you can still view an archived version of the discussion on demand.
