Radiology quality

Since its introduction in 2011, Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) has become an increasingly utilized method for radiologists to categorize lesions for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients at risk (American College of Radiology, www.acr.org/quality-safety/resources/lirads 2016). This overview article presents insight into methods of incorporating LI-RADS into an existing clinical practice, highlighting concrete ways to establish this system as a mainstay in any radiologist's evidence-based armamentarium...

The importance of quality assurance (QA) in medical ultrasound (US) has been widely recognized and recommendations concerning technical QA have been published over the years. However, the demonstrated impact of a properly working QA protocol on clinical routine has been scarce. We investigated the transducer write-off causes for a 5-y period in a multi-unit radiology department with an annual average of 230 transducers in demanding diagnostic use. The transducer faults and the initial observers of the faults leading to transducer write-offs were traced and categorized...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Progress in cancer biomarker discovery is dependent on access to high-quality biological materials and high-resolution clinical data from the same cases. To overcome current limitations, a systematic prospective longitudinal sampling of multidisciplinary clinical data, blood and tissue from cancer patients was therefore initiated in 2010 by Uppsala and Umeå Universities and involving their corresponding University Hospitals, which are referral centers for one third of the Swedish population...

The aim of this paper is to review the available published studies from African countries on patient doses and medical radiation protection and identify strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. Papers on radiation doses to patients published until 2016 pertaining to studies in African countries were reviewed. Radiography, interventional radiology, computed tomography (CT), and mammography modalities were covered. In radiography, the entrance surface air kerma values were below the established diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency, European Commission, and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements...

The Danish Hip Arthroscopy Registry (DHAR) was initiated in January 2012 as a web-based prospective registry. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and report the first registry based outcome data of a national population with radiological and clinical femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) undergoing hip arthroscopic treatment. Our primary hypothesis was that patients undergoing hip arthroscopy would improve significantly in pain, quality of life and sports related outcome measurements in Patient Related Outcome Measures (PROM)...

Type II odontoid fractures represent the most common cervical spine injury in the elderly. The decision for surgical treatment is still controversial, particularly with regard to the elevated perioperative risk attributed to frequent comorbidities and poor bone quality. Purpose of this study was to assess both short-term mortality and mid-term clinical and radiological outcome in the elderly. Between January 2007 and December 2015, 35 patients with type II odontoid process fractures who underwent posterior atlanto-axial instrumentation using a modified Goel-Harms technique were retrospectively analyzed and prospectively examined clinically and radiologically...

Scapholunate dissociation (SLD) is a form of carpal instability, caused by rupture of the scapholunate ligament (SLL) the secondary stabiliser of the scapholunate (SL) compartment. SLD can cause osteoarthritis of the wrist. Recently a study was published that shows cineradiography to be an excellent radiological imaging technique for diagnosing SLD at a tertiary centre for hand and wrist surgery [1]. As the quality of these results can be influenced by the expertise of the operator and observer of the cineradiographic studies, the aim of this study was to determine if these results were reproducible at a secondary centre for hand and wrist surgery with less expertise in wrist cineradiography...

Numerous initiatives are in place to support value based care in radiology including decision support using appropriateness criteria, quality metrics like radiation dose monitoring, and efforts to improve the quality of the radiology report for consumption by referring providers. These initiatives are largely data driven. Organizations can choose to purchase proprietary registry systems, pay for software as a service solution, or deploy/build their own registry systems. Traditionally, registries are created for a single purpose like radiation dosage or specific disease tracking like diabetes registry...

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether age, sex, and race have independent effects on sagittal pelvic parameters. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Pelvic parameters and sagittal balance correlate with health-related quality of life and are important for patient assessment and surgical planning. Age, sex, and race are 3 unalterable patient factors that may influence pelvic morphology. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of consecutive adult patients who presented to our radiology practice between 2010 and 2015 and had a standing, lateral lumbosacral radiograph...

Femoral fracture in the setting of a hip arthroplasty is an increasingly common complication encountered in the emergency department (ED). Diagnosis and management of periprosthetic fractures are complicated, and orthopedic surgeons rely on imaging findings to guide the appropriate management approach to the injury. Delay in identification and appropriate definitive management of periprosthetic fractures is associated with high morbidity and mortality. At present, the Vancouver classification system for periprosthetic hip fractures is the most common classification system used by orthopedic surgeons...

PURPOSE: Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2) together with an absorbable collagen carrier (ACS) was approved for augmentation of the maxillary sinus prior to implant placement. The original registration trial was based on a lateral window approach. Clinical outcomes of crestal sinus augmentation with rhBMP-2 have not been reported so far. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An uncontrolled pilot trial in which seven patients with a residual maxillary height below 5 mm were enrolled to receive crestal sinus augmentation with rhBMP-2/ACS was conducted...

INTRODUCTION: In Italy, due to increasing healthcare budget and staff shortages, the recently created regional mammography screening programmes were established under worse radiology practice quality criteria than the previously created programmes. METHODS: Using available data from a national questionnaire survey conducted at the end of 2013 and involving 222 responder radiologists, we compared the main professional quality standards of radiologists working in the screening programmes established during the period 2000-2012 with those working in the screening programmes created from 1990 to 1999...

INTRODUCTION: Baropodometrical digital techniques map the pressures exerted on the foot plant during both static and dynamic loadings. The study of the distribution of such pressures makes it possible to evaluate the postural and locomotory biomechanics together with its pathological variations. METHODS: From January 2011 to August 2016 we conducted a cross sectional study in order to diagnose flatfoot and hollowfoot through the baropodometric analysis, and collecting additional information such as gender and the age...

Many scientific manuscripts submitted for publication are limited by fundamental mistakes in their preparation, leading to rejection. We describe how to write a well-organized radiological research manuscript containing all of the important ingredients for effective communication of a hypothesis-driven scientific study in the context of medical imaging. KEY POINTS: • Mistakes in the preparation of scientific manuscripts lead to rejection. • Scientific writing, like any important skill, can be learned...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine oncological outcomes and incidence of lymph node (LN) metastases in women who underwent systematic pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy for surgical staging of apparent stage I low-grade epithelial ovarian cancer (LGEOC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed at nine institutions across Europe and the US, and patients who underwent surgical staging for presumed stage I LGEOC between 2000 and 2016 were included...

The aim of the guideline presented in this article is to unify the test parameters for image quality evaluation and radiation output in all types of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) systems. The applications of CBCT spread over dental and interventional radiology, guided surgery and radiotherapy. The chosen tests provide the means to objectively evaluate the performance and monitor the constancy of the imaging chain. Experience from all involved associations has been collected to achieve a consensus that is rigorous and helpful for the practice...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of open reduction and internal fixation in a large series of posterior wall fractures of the acetabulum and to identify the factors that affect the outcomes in this case series. One hundred twenty-one patients who had undergone open reduction and internal fixation of a fracture of the posterior wall of the acetabulum were assessed at a mean of 53 months (range, 24-163) after surgery. The functional outcome was evaluated with use of the modified Merle d'Aubigne scoring system, the Harris Hip Score (HHS), and the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire...

INTRODUCTION: Neurological injury remains the major cause of morbidity and mortality following open aortic arch repair. Systemic hypothermia along with antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) is the accepted cerebral protection approach, with axillary artery cannulation being the most common technique used to establish ACP. More recently, innominate artery cannulation has been shown to be a safe and efficacious method for establishing ACP. Inasmuch as there is a lack of high-quality data comparing axillary and innominate artery ACP, we have designed a randomised, multi-centre clinical trial to compare both cerebral perfusion strategies with regards to brain morphological injury using diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI)...