Dear AuntMinnie Member,
It's radiology's worst nightmare -- the idea that radiation from imaging procedures could cause cancer years later in patients. A new study that seems to confirm the connection was the most-viewed article on AuntMinnie.com this past week.
Researchers from South Korea followed cancer incidence rates for decades in a population of 12 million youths age 19 and younger. Of the group, just over 10% had received an imaging exam with a radiation-based modality, and the researchers compared cancer incidence rates between those who got imaging studies with those who didn't.
They found those who were exposed to radiation from imaging had cancer incidence rates that were higher than those who weren't, according to the article in our CT Community.
In another story in the CT Community, German researchers found that mobile stroke units -- in which an ambulance is outfitted with a mobile CT scanner and other gear -- helped stroke patients get the appropriate treatment more quickly.
Another research group found a genetic biomarker that could predict which patients will have an adverse reaction to iodine contrast, and research presented at this week's European Society of Cardiology meeting in Paris indicates that cancer is eclipsing heart disease as the primary cause of death in more developed nations.
Finally, late on Friday, a new study was released in the New England Journal of Medicine in which researchers used CT to detect signs of lung damage that could be connected with vaping using e-cigarettes. The study could shed light on a mysterious series of lung illnesses around the U.S. that have been connected to vaping.
Get these stories and more in our CT Community.
Use of medical imaging grows
In other news, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week found utilization rates of medical imaging have grown from 2000 to 2016 -- indicating that efforts to tamp down on unnecessary usage aren't working.
Enterprise imaging
Be sure to visit our Imaging Informatics Community for a new article on how radiologists can use enterprise imaging to demonstrate their value to other medical specialties. Other departments are generating ever-greater volumes of images, a shift that radiology can help assist, while also helping with the adoption of new technologies like enterprise image distribution and artificial intelligence. Visit our Imaging Informatics Community for this story and more.
