Calcifications on mammo could identify women at risk of CVD
Detecting breast arterial calcifications on routine mammograms could identify women at a higher risk of future cardiovascular disease (CVD), a study published March 13 in Clinical Imaging found. Researchers led by Shadi Azam, PhD, from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York found links between such calcifications and older age, diabetes, parity, younger age at first birth, and hypertension in women who underwent both screening mammography and cardiac CT angiography (CCTA). “Additionally, we found that when neither breast arterial calcifications nor coronary arterial calcifications were present, the estimated 10-year risk o...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 15, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Amerigo Allegretto Tags: Womens Imaging Source Type: news

Groups aim to standardize nuclear medicine imaging of CV infections
Eleven medical associations have released guidance on the use of PET/CT and SPECT/CT for patients with cardiovascular (CV) infections. The recommendations could improve patient care, as current clinical tools are often insufficient in complicated cases, noted lead author of the guidance Jamieson Bourque, MD, of the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville. The document was published jointly March 11 in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology, Clinical Infectious Diseases, the Heart Rhythm Journal, and JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging. “The stakes are high with cardiovascular infection because the incidence is incr...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 15, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Will Morton Tags: Molecular Imaging Source Type: news

CAC Score Predicts MACE in Patients With Stable Chest Pain
THURSDAY, March 14, 2024 -- For people with stable chest pain referred for invasive coronary angiography (ICA), the risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) is low among those with a low coronary artery calcium (CAC) score, according to a... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News - March 14, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

CT-FFR shows how smoking affects heart volume-to-myocardial mass ratio
Both current and former smokers show lower coronary volume-to-myocardial mass ratio (V/M) on CT fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR), researchers have found. In a study published March 14 in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, a team led by Kenneth Holmes, MD, of St Paul's Hospital and University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, reported that smoking was associated with lower coronary volume-to-myocardial mass ratio in individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD) -- results that further cement the link between smoking and heart disease. "[We found that] current and former smoking were independently associated with ...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 14, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Kate Madden Yee Tags: Clinical News CT Cardiovascular Radiology Source Type: news

Coronary angiography matches IVUS in guiding PCI stent implantation
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is on par with quantitative coronary angiography when it comes to guiding stent implantation, a study published March 13 in JAMA Cardiology found. Researchers led by Cheol Whan Lee, MD, from the University of Ulsan in Seoul, South Korea, found that both methods during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) showed similar rates of target lesion failure at 12 months. “Findings of this study suggest that a standardized quantitative coronary angiography-based PCI algorithm may be an acceptable alternative to IVUS-guided PCI, and warrants further research,” Lee and co-authors wrote. Whil...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 13, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Amerigo Allegretto Tags: Subspecialties Ultrasound Cardiovascular Radiology Source Type: news

NLP model used with radiology reports identifies PE patients
A natural language processing (NLP)-based model using information from radiology reports can accurately identify patients presenting in the emergency department (ED) with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE), researchers have found. The study results could help clinicians determine appropriate treatment, wrote a team led by Krunal Amin, MD, of Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, NC. The group's findings were published March 2 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. "[Our work suggests that] a natural language processing-based clinical decision support tool … can identify patients presenting to the emergency departm...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 6, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Kate Madden Yee Tags: Imaging Informatics Source Type: news

CAC score may predict heart attack, stroke risk
Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring with CT could determine whether patients with heart disease symptoms are at low risk of heart attacks or strokes, according to a study published March 5 in Radiology. The study results could help patients with stable chest pain avoid invasive coronary angiography (ICA), said senior author Marc Dewey, MD, of Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany in a statement released by the RSNA. "[Our] findings suggest that patients with stable chest pain and a coronary artery calcium score of zero may not require invasive coronary angiography using cardiac catheterization because the r...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 6, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Kate Madden Yee Tags: Clinical News Subspecialties CT Cardiovascular Radiology Source Type: news

ECR: 3 tips for developing a successful cardiac imaging practice
VIENNA -- It's definitely possible to develop a successful cardiac imaging practice, according to a professional development presentation delivered February 28 at the ECR in Vienna. It all comes down to a willingness to learn and to collaborate with colleagues across specialties, session chair and first presenter Dr. Matthias Gutberlet, PhD, of the University of Leipzig in Germany, told session attendees. "Teamwork is the key to success," he said. Gutberlet described how he came to cardiac imaging early in his medical career. At the time, there was little training for, say, cardiac MRI. But he persevered. "Imaging was ...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - February 29, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Kate Madden Yee Tags: Clinical News MRI Source Type: news

CT may be preferred over ICA for younger cardiac patients
CT could be the preferred method for younger patients in cardiac outcomes related to major procedure-related complications, according to research published February 28 in JAMA Cardiology. A team led by the DISCHARGE Trial Group found that while age does change the effect of CT and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) on the outcome of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), it does modify the effect of these techniques on major procedure-related complications. The team reported that CT is tied to a lower risk of major procedure-related complications in younger patients. “The findings emphasize the importance of furt...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - February 28, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Amerigo Allegretto Tags: CT Source Type: news

Fractional Flow Reserve-Guided PCI Cost-Effective Fractional Flow Reserve-Guided PCI Cost-Effective
Fractional flow reserve guides complete revascularization at lower cost than angiography in patients with acute MI and multivessel disease, data from the FRAME-AMI suggested.Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Radiology Headlines)
Source: Medscape Radiology Headlines - February 26, 2024 Category: Radiology Tags: Cardiology Source Type: news

Intravascular Imaging-Guided PCI Reaches a Turning Point With Survival, MI Benefits
(MedPage Today) -- For the first time, intravascular imaging-guided coronary stenting was associated with better survival and reduced myocardial infarction (MI) in a meta-analysis powered to detect these benefits against angiography, researchers... (Source: MedPage Today Radiology)
Source: MedPage Today Radiology - February 22, 2024 Category: Radiology Source Type: news

PCCT improves assessment of coronary artery disease
Ultrahigh-spatial-resolution photon-counting detector CT (PCCT) improves the evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD) -- enabling the reclassification of disease to a lower category in 54% of patients, researchers have found. The technology could improve patient management and reduce unnecessary interventions, according to a team that included corresponding author Tilman Emrich, MD, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The findings were published February 20 in Radiology. "Our study provides a glimpse into the potential impact of performing coronary CT angiography [CCTA] using ultrahigh spatial r...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - February 20, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Kate Madden Yee Tags: Subspecialties Chest Radiology Source Type: news

Avicenna.AI and Blackford enter strategic partnership
French AI software developer Avicenna.AI will integrate its CINA-iPE pulmonary embolism detection algorithm on Blackford’s AI platform. The collaboration will offer clinicians new capabilities for detecting incidental blood clots during chest CT angiography scans, Avicenna said. Blackford’s AI platform provides access to more than 115 AI products designed to drive clinical efficiencies and improve patient outcomes, the company noted. (Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines)
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - February 14, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Artificial Intelligence Source Type: news

Coding changes that will impact radiology practices in 2024
Erin Stephens.The annual update to the Current Procedural Terminology1 (CPT) for 2024 has 230 new codes, 70 revised codes, and 49 deleted codes. In addition, there are 395 new diagnosis codes contained in the ICD-10-CM2 update, about one-third of them describing new ways to capture accidents and injuries. Although relatively few of these changes will impact radiology practices, it’s essential to know what they are and adjust your practice systems accordingly. Diagnostic radiology Coronary Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) with CT: New Category I code 75580 will replace Category III codes 0501T, 0502T, 0503T, and 0504T to ...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - February 12, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Erin Stephens Tags: Practice Management Source Type: news

Music calms patients undergoing imaging procedures
Music can be calming for patients undergoing medical imaging, an article published February 7 in Radiography suggests. A team led by Lina Viera, PhD, from the Lisbon Polytechnic Institute in Portugal found that musical interventions, whether they be classical songs or sounds of nature, can reduce anxiety and heart rate outcomes in patients. This includes imaging procedures such as MRI, mammography, and PET among others. “Musical intervention arises as a painless, reliable, low-cost, and side-effect-free strategy, presenting imaging departments with a practical means to enhance patient comfort and mitigate anxiety and s...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - February 8, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Amerigo Allegretto Tags: Practice Management Source Type: news