Dear CT Insider,
Deciding when to request an urgent brain CT scan is a common and tricky dilemma in the emergency room, particularly when it comes to elderly patients. Researchers from Nantes, France, have analyzed this problem, looking specifically at the reasons that lie behind such requests.
The group has published its findings in the February edition of the European Journal of Emergency Medicine. Go to our CT Digital Community, or click here.
The latest advances in CT were very much in evidence at the recent RSNA 2012 congress, and we've continued to bring you news from this major event in Chicago. For instance, Dutch radiologists found that low-dose coronary artery calcium scores are reliable if iterative reconstruction is applied to the CT data. Get the story here.
Another RSNA presentation concluded that second-generation iterative reconstruction software doesn't necessarily improve radiologists' ability to detect lung nodules, but the new software does permit the same lesion detection power at greatly reduced CT radiation doses. Click here to find out more.
Also at the Chicago congress, a team from the U.K. gave some practical tips on how to reduce errors in CT reporting. They think the kidneys are best visualized on coronal images because lesions can often be missed on axial slices, while for the liver, multiplanar reformatting can help visualize lesions that are difficult to see on only one plane. Learn more by clicking here.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed that coronary CT angiography is highly accurate for diagnosing left main artery disease or three-vessel disease, but the examination significantly overcalls the extent of atherosclerosis compared with angiography. For the details, click here.
For investigating ancient Egyptian mummies, CT continues to rule supreme. New information has emerged about the death of Ramesses III, the second pharaoh of the 20th dynasty, who is believed to have reigned from 1186 BC to 1155 BC. Click here to read more.
