Dear CT Insider,
The medical community needs to do a great deal more to ensure that requests for CT scans of the aorta are appropriate.
That's the stark warning from U.K. researchers, who found that many request cards are completed poorly. Forms tend to lack accurate and complete clinical information, particularly when it comes to previous imaging, renal status, diabetes, and metformin use. This situation is of serious concern, given the radiation dose administered in these exams and the growing pressure on resources. Don't miss our news report.
Our second CT story posted today is about the latest data from the Multicentric Italian Lung Detection trial. Biennial CT lung cancer screening is just as effective as annual screening in reducing the risk of lung cancer and all-cause mortality, the study authors noted.
Fractional flow reserve CT (FFR-CT) enables clinicians to calculate fluid dynamics within the heart as a possible indicator of coronary artery disease, but many CT scans aren't of adequate technical quality to be analyzed with FFR-CT software. New findings on this important topic deserve a close look.
In CT, the impact of energy, contrast agent volume, and timing increases dependence on built-in protocols, so general radiologists often are excluded from making any changes to patient studies. This poses a major challenge when it comes to implementing artificial intelligence, writes the Maverinck in a recent column.
What procedures do you have in place for dealing with serious unexpected findings on CT scans? Are these procedures adequate? Quite possibly not, according to the authors of a new report.
In suspected cases of ovarian cancer, the choice of imaging modality remains a controversial topic. A team from Northern Ireland found that FDG-PET/CT is more accurate than contrast-enhanced CT for detecting primary ovarian cancer, but due to CT's wide availability, cost-effectiveness, and quick interpretation by junior radiologists, it is preferred on a daily basis.
This newsletter highlights only a few of the many articles posted recently in the CT Community. For the full list, please check out the lineup below.
