Concerns about the safety of gadolinium MRI contrast dominated the headlines in radiology for 2017, if our list of top 10 articles on AuntMinnie.com for the year is any indication.
Our top story as measured by member traffic was the stunning news in March 2017 that a European regulatory body had recommended that several gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) be pulled from the market due to concerns over gadolinium retention in patients. The story has continued to play out over the year; the ruling was affirmed in September, and one country, the U.K., will have the affected agents off its market by the end of next month.
Two other gadolinium-based stories occupied spots in the top 5, including our article on a lawsuit filed by Chuck Norris and his wife against firms involved in the manufacture and distribution of gadolinium contrast. Conversely, our No. 4 article was a story on a study presented at RSNA 2017 that found no evidence of neurologic harm from gadolinium administration.
But it wasn't all seriousness in radiology in 2017, as evidenced by our No. 2 story about a television ad aired by a Massachusetts MRI center that featured New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as a spokesperson. The ad showed Brady removing his five Super Bowl rings before his MRI scan -- but was filmed well before he had won the fifth one. Thanks to center's forward-thinking marketing group, the ad was ready to go the day after Brady engineered an amazing comeback in the 2017 Super Bowl.
Rounding out our top 10 for the year were stories about the launch of a new interventional angiography platform and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration getting involved in the debate over gadolinium safety by ordering that text on retention be added to warning labels for GBCAs.
Career issues are always of major concern with our readership -- articles on the potential impact of artificial intelligence on radiology and where radiologist compensation ranks among physicians also were widely read, as were our overview of the top trends at RSNA 2017 and a story from the Chicago conference on the use of MRI to find heart damage among male triathletes.
Below is the full top 10 list of articles on AuntMinnie.com for 2017, as measured by member traffic. We hope you enjoyed reading these stories as much as we enjoyed bringing them to you.
Top 10 stories for 2017
- Pull linear MRI contrast from market, European group says, March 10, 2017
- Mass. MRI firm taps Brady for Super Bowl ad, February 6, 2017
- Action star Chuck Norris, wife file gadolinium MRI lawsuit, November 1, 2017
- Study finds gadolinium retention causes no neurologic harm, November 29, 2017
- Philips launches new Azurion interventional platform, February 22, 2017
- FDA panel votes to add retention warning to GBCA labels, September 8, 2017
- Video from RSNA 2017: How will AI change radiology? November 27, 2017
- Radiologists rank 6th on Medscape salary survey, April 6, 2017
- Top 5 trends from RSNA 2017 in Chicago, December 13, 2017
- MRI discovers heart damage among male triathletes, November 21, 2017
