Dear AuntMinnie Member,
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Charles Dickens' opening line from A Tale of Two Cities might also apply to the changing fortunes of the U.S. and European radiology markets, where one region (Europe) seems to be bubbling along while another (the U.S.) continues to struggle.
This was once again evident at this year's European Congress of Radiology (ECR) in Vienna, where congress organizers reported 5% growth in attendance, to 19,100 attendees, compared to 18,200 participants in the previous year. That compares to a 4% drop in attendance at the 2009 RSNA meeting compared to the 2008 edition.
Despite some superficial differences, however, North America and Europe actually seem to be moving closer together. Radiation dose awareness has become a priority on both sides of the Atlantic, and Europeans are even seeing the rise of some phenomena -- such as medical malpractice litigation -- that are uniquely American.
The potential positive synergy of the two cultures was best exhibited at ECR by the Mozart Group, a quartet of Polish musicians who melded the best of Europe -- classical music -- with uniquely American themes like country and western music. Click here to see how they did it at the ECR's opening ceremony.
As a parting farewell, we offer you a list of the top 10 most viewed articles from ECR, as measured by traffic generated by AuntMinnie.com members. To view all our stories from the conference, just visit our ECR RADCast Roundup page by clicking here.
