RSNA 2015: Important Presentations and Studies from Day 5

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In today’s RSNA summary, we look at presentations focused on MRI’s effectiveness in detecting adverse reactions, over use of peripheral arterial disease, using Ferumoxytol in MR imaging of children, mammography priors’ effect on recall rates, and the link between heart and brain disease.

MRI Effective in Detecting Adverse Reactions Around Arthroplasties – RSNA Bulletin

According to presenter Hollis G. Potter, M.D., MRI is the most accurate means by which to detect adverse local tissue reaction (ALTR), tissue damage and bone loss around arthroplasties. ALTRs occur with all fixed- or mobile-bearing constructs in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Arthroplasties generate a small amount of metallic debris, which in most cases does not affect the patient. But in a small percentage of people, the immune response generated by the host reacts to the particles and creates areas of tissue necrosis.

Overuse of Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) Testing Likely – RSNA Daily Bulletin

According to a study presented by David C. Levin, M.D., professor and chairman emeritus of the Department of Radiology at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, tests for peripheral arterial disease (PAD)—including the use of duplex ultrasound of lower extremities—are probably being overused. The study found that while the use of vascular ultrasound, as well as noninvasive physiologic testing (NPT), for PAD has flattened or even decreased since 2010, as of 2013 it was significantly higher than it was in 2001.

Contrast Agent Ferumoxytol Safe for MR Imaging in Children – RSNA Bulletin

In the largest study of its kind, Anne Muehe, M.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Heike E. Daldrup-Link, M.D., associate professor of radiology at Stanford Medicine in Stanford, CA, and her colleagues have found that ferumoxytol is safe to use as an MR contrast agent in children. The findings are critical for the development of new ferumoxytol-based MR imaging techniques with better image quality and less toxicity.

The More Mammo Priors, the Lower the Recall Rate – AuntMinnie

Comparing screening mammography exams with two or more prior exams reduces by 14% the odds that a woman will be recalled, versus comparing the current exam to a single prior study, according to a study presented by lead author Dr. Jessica Hayward of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Hayward and colleagues conducted a retrospective search of UCSF’s mammography database for screening mammograms performed between June 2010 and March 2015, which yielded a dataset of more than 46,300 screening mammograms in about 22,700 women. The group gathered information on the women’s age, dates of the mammograms identified as comparisons in the clinical report, and recall recommendations.

Imaging Finds Link Between Brain, Heart Disease – Diagnostic Imaging

Subclinical cardiac dysfunction is associated with global and microstructural imaging markers of subclinical brain disease, according to a study presented researchers from the Netherlands. The study performed a prospective population-based study to investigate the cardiac/brain connection. The study included 2,432 participants with a mean age of 56.6; 57.4% were women. Participants with overt heart disease, dementia, and brain infarcts were excluded from the analysis.