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The value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in helping clinicians to better assess the size and extent of known breast cancers is well established. However, the use of MRI as a screening tool in women at high risk of breast cancer is now on the increase as well, particularly since April when the American Cancer Society (ACS) unveiled guidelines recommending the use of MRI as a screening tool in this subset of women.
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While results from the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) trial, published in 2005, demonstrated that digital mammography outperformed conventional film-screen mammography for a large percentage of women,1 data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) show that the technology has only been adopted by 25% of the 8,000 imaging sites in the United States.2
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Toward the end of 2007, about 500 documented cases of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF), a painful condition that affects skin and internal organs, were reported worldwide. However, that number is very likely an underestimation.
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A prophylactic procedure performed before surgery this fall on N.J. Gov. Jon Corzine could raise the public's awareness of using radiation to treat heterotopic ossification (HO), says Carol Kornmehl, MD, director of radiation oncology at St. Mary's Passaic (NJ) Hospital and author of the book, The Best News About Radiation Therapy.
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Numerous trials have shown that ultrasound offers certain advantages over other imaging technologies in determining whether some lesions are cancerous. However, data presented thus far are less convincing when ultrasound is used as a screening methodology.
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For years, scientists have been talking about how digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), a technique that enables radiologists to view three-dimensional images of the breast, is going to revolutionize breast screening. The development and approval process has taken much longer than anyone anticipated, but that hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of leading researchers, many of whom now believe that approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for at least one DBT system will come within the next year.
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Increased emphasis on patients at risk for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), enhanced information on anesthesia for pediatric patients, and focus on post-discharge PONV are three significant changes in the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia Guidelines for the Management of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting.
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The Massachusetts Hospital Association recently announced that all Massachusetts hospitals are adopting a uniform policy to not charge patients or insurers for certain serious adverse events, including wrong-site surgeries, as defined by the National Quality Forum (NQF). In doing so, Massachusetts becomes only the second state in the nation to take this voluntary action.
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Patients with limited arthritis in their knees typically had to live with pain and discomfort or wait until deterioration reached a point at which they could undergo a total knee replacement, but new technology gives patients a third option that allows them to return to normal activity without pain earlier in their lives.
