Topic

FDG PET


CMS amends restriction of ‘only one’ FDG PET scan for certain tumors

Top Stories | Sunday, August 08 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a decision memo stating that the national coverage determination manual will be changed to remove the current absolute restriction of coverage to ‘only one’ FDG PET scan, and local Medicare administrative contractors will have discretion to cover (or not cover) any additional FDG PET scan for initial treatment strategy in solid tumors and myeloma.
 

AAPM: Treat tumors as spatially different, not homogenous masses

Conference News | Tuesday, July 20 2010
PHILADELPHIA—While most cancer therapies deliver a uniform amount of radiation to the tumor as a whole, cancer masses are not homogenous. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, discovered that most of the head and neck tumors in their study contained three statistically different subpopulations with distinct profiles, and they presented the study July 19 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).
 

AAPM: CT perfusion shows early tumor vascular changes after radiotherapy

Conference News | Tuesday, July 20 2010
Written by Chris Kaiser
PHILADELPHIA—CT perfusion assessment of rectal cancer after hypofractionated radiotherapy correlated well with FDG-PET assessment and showed an increased tumor perfusion. Researchers suggest the increased vascularity could improve the bioavailability of cytotoxic agents in rectal tumors, often administered early after radiotherapy treatment, according to a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).
 

Syntermed launches FDG-PET brain imaging software

New Products | Monday, July 12 2010
Syntermed launched NeuroQ version 3.5, a nuclear medicine quantitative software platform for analysis and image display of brain FDG-PET scans at the Alzheimer’s Association 2010 international conference this week in Honolulu.
 

SNM: Building a bridge between optical imaging and nuclear imaging

Conference News | Monday, June 07 2010
Written by Lisa Fratt
SALT LAKE CITY--Optical imaging techniques may add to the molecular imaging arsenal and facilitate early detection of cancer, according to research presented at the SNM annual meeting this week.
 

Radiology: Contrast-enhanced US can assess carotid plaque inflammation

Clinical Studies | Tuesday, April 27 2010
By quantifying microbubble retention within carotid plaque, late-phase contrast-enhanced ultrasound (US) depicts clear differences between groups of subjects with plaque ipsilaterial to symptoms and asymptomatic plaques, according to a study in the May issue of Radiology.
 

PNAS: 18F-FDG-PET could ID maternal family link to Alzheimer’s disease

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, March 17 2010
18F-FDG PET identified the average increase amyloid-beta plaques among individuals whose mothers had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease compared to others with no family history of dementia, according to research findings published online March 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
 

MHNC: Pre-treatment SUV predicts treatment outcomes in head and neck cancer

Conference News | Friday, February 26 2010
Pre-treatment maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) from FDG PET imaging of the primary tumor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients is a strong predictor of prognosis, while pre-treatment SUVmax of the lymphadenopathy is significantly associated with distant metastasis, according to a study presented on Feb. 26 at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Chandler, Ariz.
 

Study: FDG PET/CT has diagnostic value for pediatric fever, inflammation

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, December 16 2009
FDG-PET and PET/CT may be valuable diagnostic tools for the evaluation of children with fever of unknown origin and unexplained signs of inflammation, according to a study published in the January issue of European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
 

Study: FDG-PET brain scans show cocaine abusers can control cravings

Clinical Studies | Friday, December 04 2009
FDG-PET brain imaging has shown that cocaine abusers may retain some ability to inhibit craving which may be therapeutically beneficial in addiction, according to research published online Nov. 18 in NeuroImage.
 

Societies request CMS coverage for two PET scans

Industry News | Tuesday, October 20 2009
Seven medical imaging societies have written a joint letter asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide coverage for two FDG PET scans for initial patient treatment evaluation, as opposed to the one scan CMS now covers.
 

Study: FDG PET bests CT in detecting lymph node metastatic sites

Top Stories | Thursday, October 15 2009
FDG PET and CT are equivalent in upstaging in patients with melanoma; however, FDG PET detected more metastatic sites, especially bone and subcutaneous, according to a study in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
 

EANM: FDG PET useful for pulmonary tuberculosis response monitoring

Conference News | Thursday, October 15 2009
Research presented at the 2009 European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) conference in Barcelona, Spain, suggests that FDG PET is useful in monitoring response to antimycobacterial treatment in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and can direct alternative therapy in case of resistant disease.
 

Cancer in Women: The Promise for Personalized Treatment

Features | Sunday, November 23 2008
Written by Sarah Lamberti
As personalized medicine attempts to revolutionize healthcare, giving patients access to tailored medical care, PET/CT is emerging with the promise of personalized therapies for oncology, including women’s cancers to provide the right patient with the right treatment at the right time.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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