Sarah S. Donaldson, M.D., Named RSNA Chairman of the Board

CHICAGO—Sarah S. Donaldson, M.D., was named chairman of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors today at the Society's annual meeting.
Dr. Donaldson has served as associate chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, Calif., since 1997, where she is also the Catherine and Howard Avery Professor of Radiation Oncology. In addition, she serves as deputy clinic chief and associate residency program director of radiation oncology at Stanford Hospital and Clinics. She is chief of radiation oncology service and a member of the medical board at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, as well as a member of the medical staff of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.
"My primary goal as chairman of the RSNA board will be to initiate a comprehensive review of the RSNA strategic plan," Dr. Donaldson said. "I will focus on education via the Internet, the international needs of radiologists, quality improvements in our field, and strengthening RSNA's interactions with sub-specialty societies. My intent is to listen and to hear the voices of all radiologists and address their concerns, while focusing on the issues identified as central to the RSNA strategic plan."

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Sarah S. Donaldson, M.D., Named RSNA Chairman of the Board

Light Exercise May Prevent Osteoarthritis

CHICAGO — People at risk for osteoarthritis may be able to delay the onset of the disease or even prevent it with simple changes to their physical activity, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"According to the results of our study, participating in a high-impact activity, such as running, more than one hour per day at least three times a week appears associated with more degenerated cartilage and potentially a higher risk for development of osteoarthritis," said the study's senior author Thomas M. Link, M.D., professor of radiology and chief of musculoskeletal imaging at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). "On the other hand, engaging in light exercise and refraining from frequent knee-bending activities may protect against the onset of the disease."
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Image Wisely Initiative to Help Providers Reduce Radiation Dose

As medical imaging exams have replaced more invasive procedures, benefiting patients and revolutionizing medicine, people's exposure to medical radiation has increased. Imaging providers are concerned that radiation exposure over time could have adverse effects for patients. They continue to act to ensure that patients receive only necessary scans and to reduce radiation dose used in these exams.

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George S. Bisset III, M.D., Named RSNA President-Elect

CHICAGO - George S. Bisset III, M.D., was named president-elect of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors today at the Society's annual meeting. Dr. Bisset is currently chief of pediatric radiology at Texas Children's Hospital, as well as professor of radiology and Edward B. Singleton Chair of Pediatric Radiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
"I am looking forward to my tenure as president-elect, during which time I will also serve as secretary-treasurer," Dr. Bisset said. "The financial management of the RSNA is in excellent hands. I can only aspire to adding some new perspectives on improving our portfolio and providing some new insight into means for building our membership and membership programs."
Dr. Bisset earned his medical degree in 1975 at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. At Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), Dr. Bisset completed his pediatric residency in 1977 and a fellowship in pediatric cardiology in 1980. In 1983, he began his radiology residency at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, combined with a pediatric radiology fellowship at CCHMC, completing both in 1986.

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Screening Tool May Better Identify Heart Disease in African Americans

CHICAGO—In a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), researchers say they may have an explanation as to why African Americans, despite having lower amounts of coronary artery calcification, are at increased risk for heart attacks and other cardiovascular events compared with Caucasians.
The answer, according to researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, S.C., may be increased levels of non-calcified plaque, which consists of buildups of soft deposits deep in the walls of the arteries that are not detected by some cardiac tests. Non-calcified plaque is more vulnerable to rupturing and causing a blood clot, which could lead to a heart attack or other cardiovascular event.


"The African Americans and Caucasians we studied had approximately the same amount of plaque in their arteries, but different kinds of plaque," said John W. Nance Jr., M.D., a researcher in the department of radiology and radiological sciences at MUSC.
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Cancer Risk From Medical Radiation May Have Been Overestimated

CHICAGO—The risk of developing radiation-induced cancer from CT may be lower than previously thought, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"Radiation from medical imaging has gotten a tremendous amount of attention in recent years," said Aabed Meer, an M.D. candidate at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. "This is one of the first studies to track CT utilization in such a large population."

The researchers conducted a retrospective study using Medicare claims from 1998 through 2005 to analyze the distribution of CT scans, determine the ionizing radiation exposure associated with the exams and estimate the associated cancer risk in a population of older adults.

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Diagnosis Uncertainty Increases Anxiety in Patients

CHICAGO—Have you ever felt uneasy sitting in a doctor's waiting room or climbed the walls waiting for your test results? That feeling of anxious uncertainty can be more stressful than knowing you have a serious illness, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"Not knowing your diagnosis is a very serious stressor," said the study's lead author, Elvira V. Lang, M.D., associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "It can be as serious as knowing that you have malignant disease or need to undergo a possibly risky treatment."
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Agfa Presents Its Latest Innovation, IMPAX Kiosk.

Agfa HealthCare, a major company providing medical imaging systems and healthcare IT solutions, has recently presented its latest innovation, IMPAX Kiosk, which represents a workflow improvement solution. IMPAX Kiosk is an interactive platform that permits the registration and check-in of patients to medical services at hospitals with no need for going to administration desks. Sarah Muckler, Senior Marketing Manager for Agfa HealthCare US, explained "For the patients, traditional check-in means waiting in a line before being afforded the opportunity to be personally checked-in by a receptionist. This can take fifteen minutes or more. With IMPAX Kiosk, we can reduce the check-in process time to five minutes." The use of the new systems will surely improve patients' satisfaction and will offer more time for administrative staff to concentrate on their other responsibilities.

CT, CTA, And Biopsy For Detection Of Natural Death Cause, Study

According to a new study, researchers mentioned that using a combination of computed tomography (CT), postmortem CT angiography (CTA), along with biopsy can be useful as a minimally invasive procedure for detecting the natural causes of mortality, such as cardiac arrest. The study took place at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Center for Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy, at the University of Bern in Bern, Switzerland. The findings of the study appear in the November issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Africa Telehealth 2010 – Opening Sessions

Telehealth and telemedicine is currently one of the significantly growing fields in healthcare industry. This is due to the fact that both fields have various advantages that can truly improve the levels of healthcare and medical services. Africa Telehealth 2010 conference, currently taking place in Cairo, Egypt, is aiming to discuss the adoption of tele-health, the benefits and the challenges affecting that adoption. The event was organized by Texas Telehealth Tech (TTT) and sponsored by leading telemedicine solutions provider, Polycom & FVC, Gross Remote Conferencing, and emerging Telemedicine company in the Middle East, Telemed Providers. The event extends from 23th – 25th of October with Health Imaging Hub contributing as the official media sponsor. In this report, we highlight the events and sessions that took place during the first day of the conference.
The first day of Africa Telehealth 2010 included a number of highly interesting sessions. After welcoming the attendees, the event started with a presentation from Dr. Sahar Saleem, Radiology Professor, Faculty of Medicine (Kasr El Aini), Cairo University. She spoke about telemedicine in Egypt, mentioning that the first radiology practice in the country, also the first in Middle East, took place in 1922. Dr. Saleem briefly spoke about radiology statistics in Egypt, such as number of MRI units in the country (160), and their ratio in relation to population (2 MRI units per million capita). She also added that PACS systems are currently used in Egypt but on a very limited scale. Dr. Saleem confirmed during her presentation that telemedicine represents a suitable solution against a number of obstacles hindering the improvement of healthcare services, such as lack of specialists and equipment in rural areas, over population and over-crowded cities such as Cairo and Alexandria, where patients need a lot of time to reach radiology centers. Dr. Saleem added that telemedicine can improve the level of radiologists in Egypt as a result to continuous discussions and consultations with their colleagues in Western countries such as US and Canada, adding that such discussions can be useful if they take place between radiologists in Arab countries. She concluded that the expansion in telemedicine adoption in Egypt will be highly cost-effective, not only for patients, as they will no longer need to travel for long distances to radiology centers, but also for hospitals and healthcare facilities.