Dear AuntMinnie Member,
What caused a series of mysterious episodes of neurological problems reported by personnel at the U.S. and Canadian embassies in Cuba in 2016? At the time, some postulated that they had been attacked by a "sonic weapon," but a new case report this week suggests there might have been a different cause for the ailments.
Researchers from Canada reported on the case of a U.S. tourist returning from a trip to Cuba who began experiencing symptoms remarkably similar to those of the embassy personnel. CT brain scans revealed changes such as bilateral hyperdensity of the globus pallidi, which researchers found consistent with exposure to organophosphate pesticides -- rather than a sonic weapon.
In other news in our CT Community, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital postulate that general physicians may be referring some patients for CT lung cancer screening despite the fact that they don't meet established guidelines. It's an interesting point, as lung screening rates among high-risk smokers are generally considered to be lower than what they ought to be.
Also, researchers from China reported positive results with machine learning-based radiomics models for predicting treatment outcomes in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, while Austrian researchers reported interesting findings on lung damage caused by COVID-19.
Get these stories and more in our CT Community.
RP deal for Mednax
In the imaging services segment, a blockbuster deal was announced on Thursday: National radiology network Radiology Partners (RP) proposed to acquire the radiology services business of Mednax in a deal valued at $885 million.
Radiology Partners is already the largest provider of imaging services in the U.S., and the acquisition will grow the company's network of radiologists by over 50% -- representing somewhere around 10% of U.S. radiologists.
Meanwhile, Dr. Scott Atlas is back in the news again this week. The former Stanford University neuroradiologist and advisor to President Donald Trump on the COVID-19 pandemic has become a lightning rod for criticism for his ties to the "herd immunity" concept of dealing with the pandemic. On Wednesday, a group of Stanford physicians published an open letter illustrating what they claimed were "falsehoods and misrepresentations of science" he had made in connection with the pandemic.
Additionally, a new survey of physician salaries has found that median salaries for diagnostic radiologists grew compared with last year, cracking the $500,000 ceiling.
Fall 2020 Virtual Conference
Finally, our Fall 2020 Virtual Conference -- AI, Enterprise Imaging & Beyond -- is just a couple weeks away, taking place September 22-23. We've assembled a stellar program of key opinion leaders in radiology, including Dr. Eliot Siegel; Dr. Shinjini Kundu, PhD; Dr. Sonia Gupta; Dr. Curtis Langlotz, PhD; Dr. Cheryl Petersilge; and Michael Cannavo. Registration is free.
