Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Radiology for October 2017. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Football Career Length, Position Affect White Matter Structure
TUESDAY, Oct. 31, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For former collegiate and professional football players, career duration and primary playing position appear to modify the effects of concussion history on white matter structure and neural recruitment, according to a study published online Oct. 31 in Radiology.
Ultrasonography Not Necessary for Evaluation of Hypothyroidism
TUESDAY, Oct. 31, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Imaging studies, including thyroid ultrasonography, are not required for the evaluation of hypothyroidism, and their risks include treatment of incidentally discovered nodules, patient and physician anxiety, and significant cost, according to a clinical review article published online Oct. 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Focused US Thalamotomy Effective in Tremor-Dominant PD
TUESDAY, Oct. 31, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease (TDPD), unilateral focused ultrasound (FUS) thalamotomy is associated with improvements in tremor scores, according to a study published online Oct. 30 in JAMA Neurology.
Retinal Sensitivity Linked to Cognitive Status in T2DM
TUESDAY, Oct. 31, 2017 (HealthDay News) — In patients with type 2 diabetes, retinal sensitivity is associated with cognitive status, according to a study published in the September issue of Diabetes.
Computed Tomography Features Vary Based on BRCA Status
THURSDAY, Oct. 31, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Qualitative computed tomography (CT) features differ between patients with BRCA-mutant high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) and patients with BRCA wild-type HGSOC, according to a study published in the November issue of Radiology.
Depressive Symptoms Increase During Internship Year
TUESDAY, Oct. 31, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Depressive symptoms increase during the internship year for training physicians, with a greater increase among women, according to a study published online Oct. 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Multimodal Surveillance Regimen May Not Benefit BRCA Carriers
MONDAY, Oct. 30, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Automated breast ultrasonography may not be of added value to yearly full-field digital (FFD) mammography and dynamic contrast agent-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging surveillance of carriers of the BRCA mutation, according to a study published in the November issue of Radiology.
Time, Workload Limit Patient-Centered Care for Radiologists
MONDAY, Oct. 30, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Many radiologists would like to communicate more directly with patients but are constrained by workload or time, according to a study published in the November issue of Radiology.
3D Ultrasound Not Accurate for ID of Sex in First Trimester
MONDAY, Oct. 30, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality ultrasound is not accurate in first-trimester fetal sex determination, according to a study published online Oct. 19 in the Journal of Clinical Ultrasound.
Elastography and Color Doppler Improve Breast Ultrasound
MONDAY, Oct. 30, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The combination of elastography and color Doppler ultrasonography (US) with B-mode US in women with dense breasts can increase the positive predictive value of screening and reduce the number of false-positives, according to a study published in the November issue of Radiology.
Treatment for Stage I NSCLC Patients Up From 2000 to 2010
FRIDAY, Oct. 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For patients with stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the odds of receiving radiation therapy (RT) or surgery increased from 2000 to 2010, with improved survival during the same period, according to a study published online Oct. 26 in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
Multidisciplinary Model Cuts Treatment Delay in Head, Neck CA
FRIDAY, Oct. 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For patients with head and neck cancer, a multidisciplinary head and neck clinic model is associated with reduced treatment delay, according to a study published online Oct. 26 in JAMA Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.
70-Gene Signature Impacts Treatment Decisions in Breast CA
FRIDAY, Oct. 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The 70-gene signature (GS) assay affects treatment decisions among physicians treating patients identified as being at intermediate risk with the 21-gene assay (21-GA), according to a study published online Oct. 26 in JAMA Oncology.
Bone Strength + Bone Mineral Density Screening Cost-Effective
FRIDAY, Oct. 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Combined assessment of bone strength and bone mineral density is a cost-effective strategy for osteoporosis screening in postmenopausal women, according to a study published in the November issue of Radiology.
Better Outcomes With Transoroal Robotic Surgery Alone in OPSCC
THURSDAY, Oct. 26, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), transoral robotic surgery (TORS) alone is associated with improved outcomes versus TORS followed by adjuvant treatment, according to a study published online Oct. 26 in JAMA Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.
Gifts From Pharma Companies Influence Prescribing Behavior
THURSDAY, Oct. 26, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Receipt of gifts from pharmaceutical companies is associated with more prescriptions per patient and more costly prescriptions, according to a study published online Oct. 25 in PLOS One.
MRN Helps Quantify Peripheral Nerve Involvement in MS
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 25, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have peripheral nerve involvement that can be visualized and quantified by high-resolution magnetic resonance neurography (MRN), according to a study published online Oct. 10 in the Annals of Neurology.
Swedish Massage May Reduce Cancer-Related Fatigue
TUESDAY, Oct. 24, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Swedish massage therapy (SMT) is associated with clinically significant relief from cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in breast cancer survivors, according to a study published online Oct. 17 in Cancer.
Design Thinking Enables Med Students to Solve Challenges
MONDAY, Oct. 23, 2017 (HealthDay News) — A joint effort between students at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is training future physicians in design thinking to help identify and repair health system issues that contribute to physician burnout, according to an article by the American Medical Association.
Clinician Job Satisfaction Linked to Improved Burnout Scores
FRIDAY, Oct. 20, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Clinicians’ job satisfaction is associated with improved burnout scores and reduced intention to leave their practices, according to a study published in the October issue of Health Affairs.
Melanoma Staging Undergoes Evidence-Based Revision
FRIDAY, Oct. 20, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) melanoma staging system has been revised, according to a report published online Oct. 13 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Uninsurance Down by One-Third for Cancer Diagnoses in 2014
THURSDAY, Oct. 19, 2017 (HealthDay News) — In the first year of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there was a relative decrease of one-third in uninsurance among adults with new cancer diagnoses, according to a research letter published online Oct. 19 in JAMA Oncology.
Conditions Tied to Clinician Dissatisfaction Are Modifiable
THURSDAY, Oct. 19, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Modifiable conditions, like chaos, incohesiveness, and lack of communication, contribute to unsatisfying workplaces for clinicians, according to a study published in the October issue of Health Affairs.
MRI Findings Prognostic for Long-Term Recovery in Cardiac Arrest
THURSDAY, Oct. 19, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Measures of cerebral functional network connectivity measured within four weeks of cardiac arrest (CA) are associated with a favorable outcome (FO) at one year, according to a study published online Oct. 18 in Radiology.
Key Stakeholders Discuss How to Make EHRs More Usable
THURSDAY, Oct. 19, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Key stakeholders and physicians discussed electronic health record (EHR) usability and optimization in the American Medical Association Running Your Practice Community.
Sharing Passwords Is Widespread Among Medical Staff
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Sharing of passwords to access electronic medical records is common among medical staff members, according to a study published in the July issue of Healthcare Informatics Research.
Men Now Comprise ~10 Percent of RN Workforce
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The increasing participation of men in registered nursing can be attributed to multiple factors, including increasing educational attainment, rising labor demand in health care, and liberalizing gender role attitudes, according to a working paper published by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.
Overall Survival Up for Melanoma Brain Metastases
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Overall survival (OS) for patients with melanoma brain metastases (MBM) has improved significantly since 2000, according to a study published online Oct. 12 in Cancer.
Machine Learning Model Predicts Risk of Upgrade to Breast CA
TUESDAY, Oct. 17, 2017 (HealthDay News) — A machine learning model can predict the risk of upgrade of high-risk breast lesions (HRLs) to cancer, according to a study published online Oct. 17 in Radiology.
Female Physicians May Be Especially at Risk of Burnout
TUESDAY, Oct. 17, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Female physicians are more burned out than their male colleagues, but there are steps they can take to reduce the stress associated with burnout, according to a blog post published in Medical Economics.
Most Female Physicians Have Faced Sexist Patient Comments
MONDAY, Oct. 16, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Most female physicians have been sexually harassed by patients at some point in their careers, according to a blog post published in Medical Economics.
Late Gadolinium Enhancement Linked to Prognosis in Myocarditis
FRIDAY, Oct. 13, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For patients with acute myocarditis (AM) with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and for patients with suspected myocarditis, late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is associated with worse prognosis, according to two studies published online Oct. 9 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Abstract — Aquaro
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Abstract — Gräni
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U.S. Filipinos Have Higher Thyroid Cancer Mortality
FRIDAY, Oct. 13, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Filipinos die of thyroid cancer at higher rates than non-Filipino Asian (NFA) and non-Hispanic white (NHW) individuals of similar ages, according to a study published online Sept. 7 in Cancer.
Quality Issues for Both Paper-, Electronic-Based Health Records
FRIDAY, Oct. 13, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Both paper-based and electronic health records (EHRs) have shortcomings in terms of quality of content, process, and structure, with poor quality of nursing documentation seen for both methods, according to a study published online Oct. 5 in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.
Genetic Variant Tied to Prostate Cancer Outcomes
THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The HSD3B1 (1245C) allele is associated with more rapid development of metastases in men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer, and it predicts response to nonsteroidal CYP17A1 inhibition, according to two studies published online Oct. 12 in JAMA Oncology.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required) — Hearn
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Court Considering Fate of Noneconomic Damages Cap
THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court is considering whether it will hear a case that will determine the fate of the state’s $750,000 cap on noneconomic damages, according to an article published by the American Medical Association (AMA).
New System Streamlines CME Credit Approval Process
THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) have launched a new performance improvement activity credit reporting process called the AAFP Credit System, according to an article published by the AAFP.
Low-Cost Services a Major Player in Unnecessary Health Spending
THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The costs associated with low-cost, low-value health services are nearly twice as high as those of high-cost, low-value services, according to a study published in the October issue of Health Affairs.
Primary, Pulmonary Providers Endorse Lung CA Screening
THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Primary care clinicians and pulmonologists endorse lung cancer screening (LCS), but there are limitations in their knowledge of screening components, according to a study published online Sept. 21 in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
Physician Salaries Appear to Be Flat or Declining
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 11, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Anecdotally, physician career coaches report that physician salaries are flat at best, according to an article published in Medical Economics.
Medical License Questions Sway Doctors’ Mental Health Help
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 11, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Medical licensure application questions (MLAQs) regarding mental health contribute to physicians’ reluctance to seek help for mental health, according to a study published in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
New Tool IDs Mortality Risk After Bladder Cancer Surgery
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 11, 2017 (HealthDay News) — A new risk-stratification tool is able to estimate mortality in patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) after cystectomy, according to a study published online Sept. 7 in Cancer.
Guide Offers Doctors Tips for Choosing a Health System
TUESDAY, Oct. 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) — A guide has been developed to assist physicians considering joining a physician-led integrated health system, according to a report published by the American Medical Association (AMA).
Patient, Provider Interventions May Up Colonoscopy Rates
TUESDAY, Oct. 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For asymptomatic adults with positive fecal blood test results, patient navigators and provider reminders or performance data may help improve colonoscopy rates; however, current evidence about useful system-level interventions is insufficient, according to a review published online Oct. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Novel Metrics Suggested for Assessing EHR Use
TUESDAY, Oct. 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Novel metrics have been developed to assess electronic health record (EHR) use and are described in an opinion article published online Oct. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
2016 Physician Quality Reporting System Reports Available
MONDAY, Oct. 9, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The 2016 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and the 2016 annual Quality and Resource Use reports have been released for individuals and group practices, according to a report published by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Injured Patients Want More Info on Safety Improvement Efforts
MONDAY, Oct. 9, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Communication-and-resolution program (CRP) experiences are positive overall for a small majority of patients and families, but they report that hospitals rarely share information about preventing recurrences, according to a study published online Oct. 9 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Negative Margins, Lymph Node Yields Predict Survival
MONDAY, Oct. 9, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Patients treated at hospitals that attain a high rate of negative margins and lymph node yields (LNY) of at least 18 have improved survival after surgery for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), according to a study published online Oct. 5 in JAMA Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.
3-D Ultrasound IDs Late-Onset Fetal Growth Restriction
MONDAY, Oct. 9, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Fractional thigh volume measurements improve detection of late-onset fetal growth restriction, compared to two-dimensional biometry, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Short-Lived Benefits for Abusive Supervisory Behavior
FRIDAY, Oct. 6, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Engaging in abusive supervisory behavior may be associated with short-term beneficial effects, but over longer periods of time, abusive supervisory behavior is negatively related to supervisors’ recovery level and engagement, according to a study published online Sept. 11 in the Academy of Management Journal.
Stronger Nocebo Effect When Inert Rx Labeled As Expensive
FRIDAY, Oct. 6, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Nocebo hyperalgesia is stronger when an inert treatment is labeled as being an expensive medication rather than a cheap one, according to a study published online Oct. 5 in Science.
Most Cancer Drugs Approved in Europe Show No Survival Benefit
FRIDAY, Oct. 6, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Most cancer drugs that enter the market in Europe have no evidence of benefit for survival or quality of life, according to a study published online Oct. 4 in BMJ.
Liver Cancer Remains a Major Public Health Burden Globally
FRIDAY, Oct. 6, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Causes of primary liver cancer differ widely among populations globally, but most cases can be prevented, according to a study published online Oct. 5 in JAMA Oncology.
21 Percent of Americans Report Experiencing a Medical Error
THURSDAY, Oct. 5, 2017 (HealthDay News) — More than one in five patients report having experienced a medical error, according to a survey released Sept. 28 by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)/National Patient Safety Foundation Lucian Leape Institute and NORC at the University of Chicago.
Reasons Physicians Are Delaying Retirement Vary
THURSDAY, Oct. 5, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Physicians are delaying retirement, often because they feel they are providing a useful service to patients or because of concerns about social interaction in retirement, according to an article published online Sept. 25 in Medical Economics.
Pay Inequality, Work-Life Balance Top Concerns for Female Docs
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 4, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Many female physicians report feeling disadvantaged when negotiating contracts and feel that they are assessed for promotion using different criteria than those used for men, according to a report published by the American Medical Association (AMA).
Provider Advice Impacts Breast Cancer Prevention Decisions
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 4, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For patients at high risk for breast cancer, health care provider (HCP) recommendation is the most important factor for deciding whether to use selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), according to a study published online Oct. 4 in Cancer Prevention Research.
Scientists Support Genome Editing to Prevent Disease
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 4, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Many basic scientists and clinical researchers support somatic genome editing in adults for prevention of serious disease but not for human enhancement; they also believe the public should be consulted before any clinical application of germline gene editing proceeds, according to survey results published online Oct. 3 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics.
Overall Breast Cancer Incidence Up for Some in 2005-2014
TUESDAY, Oct. 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Overall breast cancer incidence rates increased among specific racial/ethnic groups from 2005 to 2014, although the overall death rates decreased from 1989 to 2015, according to a study published online Oct. 3 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
MI Incidence Down With CT Angiography in Suspected CAD
TUESDAY, Oct. 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) — For patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD), coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is associated with reduced incidence of myocardial infarction but no reduction in death or cardiac hospitalization versus functional stress testing, according to a review published online Oct. 2 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Communication Program Doesn’t Raise Hospital Liability Costs
TUESDAY, Oct. 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) — A communication-and-resolution program, in which hospitals and liability insurers communicate with patients when adverse events occur, does not lead to higher liability costs, according to a study published online Oct. 2 in Health Affairs.
Tattoo Pigment Hypersensitivity Can Mimic Lymphoma
TUESDAY, Oct. 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Tattoo pigment hypersensitivity causing widespread lymphadenopathy has been described in a case report published online Oct. 2 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Patient With CAS of 50 Percent Should Not Undergo Screening
TUESDAY, Oct. 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) — A vascular surgeon and primary care physician agree that an asymptomatic patient with cardiovascular risk and stenosis of 50 percent on screening carotid ultrasonography should not undergo carotid artery stenosis (CAS) screening, according to an article published online Oct. 2 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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