While the FDA launched an initiative to reduce unnecessary radiation from medical imaging, the agency lacks the authority to truly track and regulate CT scanning without the legal support of a congressional act, Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, said in an interview and wrote in a perspective in the June 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

MINNEAPOLIS--Vital Images debuted Vitrea Enterprise Suite 1.3 with new clinical capabilities at the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) annual conference last week.

Practice reporting has had a tumultuous history. Specifically in the U.S., mammography reporting has suffered from a lack of uniformity and standardization, which changed with the implementation of the American College of Radiology’s (ACR) Breast Imaging and Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS).  While limitations still remain for breast imaging, emerging technologies and software applications are finessing the mammography reporting technique, and paving the way for further homogeny and an overall improved patient experience. 

By making changes in routine pediatric chest CT protocol regarding the patient’s weight, significant radiation dose reduction can be achieved within this patient population, according to a study published in the May edition of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

On the day before or on the day of hospital admission, patients who underwent imaging with CT, MRI or nuclear scintigraphy were associated with significantly shorter lengths of inpatient stays compared with patients who underwent advanced imaging later, according to a study published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Despite physician practices being broadly consistent with recommendations in the medical literature, there are variations by physician specialty and geographic location that may highlight evidence of inappropriate imaging in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE), according to a study published online in the April issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Whole-body 18F-FDG PET combined with chest CT is cost-effective in pretreatment screening for distant metastases in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients with risk factors, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Chest ultrasound is a viable alternative to chest CT in evaluating pediatric patients with pneumonia and parapneumonic effusion, according to a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled Monday that cigarette maker Philip Morris should pay for chest CT scans, in order for smokers to detect the early development of lung cancer.