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Incidental finding on MRI points to multiple sclerosis
 A study performed by Dr. Darin T. Okuda, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, published in an issue of Neurology, involved 44 people who had brain MRI scans for various reasons, such as migraine headaches or head trauma. The MRI scan showed that the patients had abnormalities similar to those that occur in multiple sclerosis. The patients were monitored and, after more than 5 years, 30% of them started developing multiple sclerosis symptoms.
The disease was called the Radiologically Isolated Syndrome (RIS) but Okuda considers that further research is also needed before any recommendations can be made regarding treatment.
This study sets stage for establishing a process for evaluating the risk of developing multiple sclerosis.
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Early detection is a powerful weapon against risk of colorectal cancer
CT, or virtual colonography, is a non-invasive screening process throughout which 3D images of the colon and rectum are produced. Because sedation is not required, the patient can return to his normal activities immediately following the procedure.
In the USA, this non-invasive method is more and more acknowledged. In April, Mayo Clinic in Arizona starts a programme for the discovering and early treatment of colorectal cancer: the CT non-invasive investigation (virtual colonography) and in the same day, the resection of the polyps if these are found by classical endoscopic means. From their point of view, patients over the age of 50, respectively over the age of 45 if they have a family history in colorectal cancer, should undergo this procedure.
By this, they are trying to reduce the rate of colorectal cancer. |
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CT colonography diagnoses both cancer and osteoporosis
CT colonography can screen for both colorectal cancer and osteoporosis reliably at minimal additional cost and time.
Because the images are cross-sections of the entire body, CT colonography scans can also be constructed into a three-dimensional model of the spine, which can be used to measure bone mineral density, according to lead author Rizwan Aslam, an assistant clinical professor of radiology at the University of California, San Francisco. This information can then be used to determine the risk or presence of osteoporosis.
A study at San Francisco VA Hospital compared the results of CT colonography scans with those of dual x-ray absorptiometry examinations, the standard imaging technique used to score bone mineral density and diagnose osteoporosis. The study compared DXA scores with CT colonography results in 30 men and five women ranging in age from 54 to 79. Results showed excellent agreement between the DXA bone mineral density scores and the data obtained through the CT colonography study.
The ability to perform colonography and bone densitometry simultaneously could be especially valuable because colon cancer and osteoporosis both affect adults over the age of 50. Doubling up the exams also means avoiding radiation exposure from a second scan.
"Virtual colonoscopy can successfully evaluate patients for osteoporosis, and colonoscopy provides valuable information on osteoporosis risk with no additional radiation or cost," Aslam said. |
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CT Scans Could Prevent Appendectomies
The American Journal of Roentgenology advises that a CT of the appendix has a significant impact on the management of emergency department patients who are suspected of having appendicitis.
Dr. Robert Nathan of the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues, conducted a prospective study of consecutive adult cases at the 300-bed hospital over a four-month period in 2006. Routinely CT scans were ordered for all the patients with suspected appendicitis. No surgery was performed without CT results.
Physicians rated the likelihood of appendicitis in each case in five categories, from „unlikely” to „possible” to „equivocal” to „probable” to „very likely”. In three of the five patients in whom appendicitis was considered „very likely”, CT determined that this was not the case. This was also true in 9 of 18 in whom appendicitis was considered to be „likely”.
Overall, CT scans led to a change in the treatment plans of 29% of the patients.
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