Dear AuntMinnieEurope Member,
False positives tend to fill oncologists, radiologists, and hospital managers with utter dread because often they involve unnecessary procedures and costs, as well as increased anxiety for patients. But when it comes to breast MRI, false positives can be of real clinical value.
Dr. Christiane Kuhl from Aachen, Germany, spoke about this important issue at the annual scientific meeting of the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI), which attracted more than 700 delegates and concluded in Paris on Saturday. She's always worth listening to, and you can do so in our Women's Imaging Community, or by clicking here.
Our second article from the EUSOBI event features the results of an extensive survey about breast MRI. Receiving 189 responses in late 2015, the Austrian-led research highlights wide disparities in care across Europe. Click here to find out more.
Body imaging biomarkers is another hot topic right now. As a curtain-raiser to the European School of Radiology's course later this year, we've posted a column written by two Spanish experts, Dr. Luis Martí-Bonmatí, PhD, and Dr. Angel Alberich. Visit the Molecular Imaging Community, or click here.
Data from the literature show women who previously had breast cancer are not "long-term breast cancer survivors." In fact, they still have an intermediate risk of breast cancer -- not as high as BRCA1/2 mutation carriers, but with a risk higher than women with no previous breast cancer and no relevant family history. With this in mind, don't miss the new recommendations from two Italian medical societies on how to follow up these women.
On 6 October, a dedicated meeting about radiological safety takes place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, providing further confirmation that dose awareness is increasing fast in the region. We've interviewed session speaker Wadha Al Shamsi, medical physicist and chief medical officer for clinical imaging at Al Ain Hospital in Abu Dhabi. Click here for the full story.
This week's case report comes from the Middle East too. Authors from Beirut, Lebanon, describe how they diagnosed a 61-year-old woman with diabetes who presented with unintentional weight loss and left-flank pain for the past three weeks. Test yourself here.
