Dear Musculoskeletal Imaging Insider,
In this edition of the Insider, you'll get the first look at a new study that showed that 3-tesla MRI is as effective as MR arthrography in detecting acetabular labral tears in the hip.
Lead author Dr. Thomas Magee said the use of 3-tesla MRI, rather than MR arthrography, as the first course of action helps save patients from an unnecessary arthrography procedure and its potential complications, such as infection, bleeding, and discomfort. This Insider Exclusive is available by clicking here.
Also in this issue are two fascinating reports from Haiti, where radiology professionals are on the front lines helping to treat those injured in the devastating January 12 earthquake. In the first story, Dr. Gia Deangelis, a radiologist from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, offers a first-person account of the situation in Grison-Garde and Cap-Haitien, as the country's people search for food and medical help.
In the second story, Idaho radiologic technologist Barb Gearhard describes how a digital radiography system that survived the quake is now working overtime, acquiring images of hundreds of patients injured in the disaster. That story by contributing writer Donna Domino is available by clicking here.
Meanwhile, associate editor Cynthia E. Keen details how pediatric radiologists and child abuse pediatricians at Seattle Children's Hospital distinguish between accidents and child abuse. The staff has found that bone fractures in mobile infants and toddlers diagnosed with rickets have telltale characteristics that differentiate them from nonaccidental trauma fractures caused by child abuse.
In another story, Ms. Keen reports how a stand-up MRI scanner found signs of lumbar spine compression in children carrying backpacks, according to researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. The UCSD researchers conducted a study measuring lumbar disk compressibility and lumbar spine curvature in children wearing filled backpacks.
Be sure to visit the Musculoskeletal Imaging Digital Community on a daily basis to keep pace with the latest news and research developments in this area.
