Diagnostic Reading #8: Five “Must Read” Articles on Medical Imaging
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In the news: Imaging identifies more impacts from COVID-19.
This week’s articles in Diagnostic Reading include: price transparency in radiology; MRI links COVID with eye problems; DBT device measures bone density; imaging illustrates how COVID causes body to attack itself; and there is a sizable gap in X-ray interpretation.
Price Transparency in Radiology – Everything Rad
There is a price transparency movement under way in health care that has the potential to impact imaging revenue in hospitals in the U.S. In this blog, Yoshimi Anzai, MD, MPH, Professor of Radiology at the University of Utah, provides guidance for radiology departments to get ahead of the movement by defining and demonstrating quality in imaging exams.
Windows of infection: MRI reveals COVID-19-linked eye abnormalities – Diagnostic Imaging
Unusual eye findings have been reported in patients infected with COVID-19 from the early stages of the pandemic. However, there has been little published research about what the virus can actually do to the eyes. Using MRI, radiologists are seeing significant optical abnormalities in patients who have suffered severe viral disease, and investigators from the French Society of Neuroradiology (SFNR) have presented the first ocular MRI findings associated with COVID-19, which were recently published in Radiology.
Digital wrist tomosynthesis assesses women’s bone health – MedImaging
A new study shows how digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) scanners can also be used to perform bone density measurements. Researchers at Henry Ford Health System in the U.S. conducted a study to explore the feasibility of using DBT devices for digital wrist tomosynthesis (DWT) to measure bone mineral density (BMD), cortical bone thickness and microstructural properties of the wrist bone. The results published in Bone showed that measurements from DWT imaging with a DBT scanner were highly repeatable.
Radiological images confirm ‘COVID-19 can cause the body to attack itself’ – Axis Imaging News
Though muscle soreness and achy joints are common symptoms among COVID-19 patients, some symptoms are more severe, long lasting and even unusual—including rheumatoid arthritis flares, autoimmune myositis or “COVID toes.” For the first time, research has confirmed and illustrated the causes of these symptoms through radiological imaging. “We’ve realized that the COVID virus can trigger the body to attack itself in different ways, which may lead to rheumatological issues that require lifelong management,” says one researcher in a study to be published in the journal Skeletal Radiology.
Research reveals ‘remarkable gap’ in X-ray interpretation skills between primary care physicians, radiologists – Health Imaging
Family medicine residents have trouble accurately diagnosing common emergency conditions on chest X-rays compared to radiologists-in-training, according to survey results in a BMC Family Practice. Responses from more than 200 physicians revealed family medicine practitioners were more than 30 percentage points less accurate than radiologists, and researchers believe these front-line doctors need assistance, during both medical school and clinical practice.
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