Announcements 

Radiologists Deliver "On-Venue Ultrasound" at 2010 Winter Olympics

Radiologists at this month's Vancouver 2010 Olympics are manning onsite mobile "polyclinics" designed to provide medical care and imaging services—including, for the first time, instant ultrasound diagnoses that can help determine whether an athlete is fit to return to the field of play.

"Our objective for on-venue ultrasound (OVUS) is to image athletes at venues in an expedited, timely way, to allow themselves, their physicians and coaches to make the very important return-to-play decision," said Bruce Forster, M.D., director of imaging for the 2010 Olympics. "We're offering OVUS at the cross-country Nordic, speed skating, freestyle skiing, snowboarding and ice hockey venues." Listen In as Dr. Forster explains the configuration of the imaging centers.

In addition to OVUS, radiologists will provide services at three mobile imaging centers—an Alpine site, home to Olympic events including cross-country and downhill skiing; a city site, which hosts sports like hockey and curling; and a site at the Whistler Sliding Centre, hosting events like bobsledding.

Ultrasound videos obtained near the playing field are sent instantly to imaging centers through a local area network (LAN) line.

RSNA News will provide a full report on the experiences of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Radiology Teams in the April issue.

A complete roster of team members appears at right.

ACR/SBI Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines Challenge USPSTF Recommendations

New breast cancer screening recommendations from the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI) and the American College of Radiology (ACR) challenge recent controversial U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations against routine screening mammography for women under age 50.

Published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), the guidelines state that breast cancer screening should begin at age 40 and earlier in high-risk patients. The ACR/SBI recommendations also suggest appropriate utilization of medical imaging modalities such as mammography, MR imaging and ultrasound for breast cancer screening.

Issued in November, the USPSTF recommends against routine mammography screening for women 40–49 years of age and for every other year rather than annually for women between 50 and 74, unleashed a firestorm of opposition from organizations including ACR and SBI.

An abstract of Breast Cancer Screening With Imaging: Recommendations From the Society of Breast Imaging and the ACR on the Use of Mammography, Breast MRI, Breast Ultrasound, and Other Technologies for the Detection of Clinically Occult Breast Cancer published in the January issue of JACR is available at jacr.org/article/S1546-1440(09)00480-3/abstract.

High-Resolution CT, CT Pulmonary Angiography Cited as Most Influential Cardiopulmonary Imaging Advances

In response to a question posed in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Journal of Thoracic Imaging—"What is the most influential article or advance in our specialty in the past 25 years?"—25 international leaders in cardiopulmonary imaging most frequently cited high-resolution CT and CT pulmonary angiography. The responses are published in an open-access article in the journal's February 25 anniversary issue.

In one example, 2008 RSNA President Theresa C. McLoud, M.D., associate radiologist-in-chief and director of education for the Department of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, wrote that "high-resolution chest CT has permitted a much greater understanding of interstitial lung disease. It has increased the accuracy of diagnosis and the ability of the radiologist to understand the anatomic distribution of disease at the lobular level, to provide a quantitative analysis of the severity of disease and to assess response to treatment."

CT pulmonary angiography for diagnosing pulmonary embolism was the most frequently reported new advance in cardiopulmonary imaging. Other frequently cited advances included multidetector-row CT technology, CT coronary angiography and cardiac MR, noted the journal's editor, Phillip M. Boiselle, M.D., an associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and director of the thoracic imaging section at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The collected responses are available online at thoracicimaging.com.

1991 RSNA President Reflects on 20 Years of RSNA News Coverage

Carl J. Zylak, M.D.

In 1991, then-RSNA President Carl J. Zylak, M.D., heralded the first issue of RSNA News, which began as an eight-page black-and-white newsletter that informed members of RSNA's internal projects. Since then, the magazine, celebrating its 20th year in 2010, has become an award-wining newsmagazine that readers look to for coverage of the dramatic evolution taking place within radiology.

"It's been very special to see the progress of RSNA News over the past 20 years," said Dr. Zylak. "The membership is very appreciative of the superb efforts put together by RSNA volunteers and staff who have contributed to the articles and editorial excellence."

Dr. Zylak reflected on some of the developments covered in RSNA News over the past two decades.

"The amazing changes in technology that I've been privileged to witness have had a major impact not only on radiology but on the practice of medicine in general," said Dr. Zylak. "To be able to detail not only anatomy but functional anatomy with the various modalities we now have, along with the physiologic information we can provide with these technologies, is truly outstanding."

"Radiology has become pivotal in managing patients in various settings, so we have a major responsibility as radiologists," Dr. Zylak continued. "The process of continuing preeminence in the field depends on what we do with and for the people coming behind us. In particular, we must continue to provide financial support for the RSNA Research & Education Foundation."

In the course of covering those issues, Dr. Zylak noted that RSNA News has received honors including the Publications Management Magnum Opus Award, the MarCom Creative Gold Award and the Excellence in Association Publications Award from Association Trends Publications.

"The magazine has far surpassed what the 1991 board envisioned," said Dr. Zylak. "As part of that 1991 board, I'm personally delighted for the success of RSNA News."

Nominations Sought for Roentgen Resident/Fellow Research Award

Deadline for Nominations—April 1

The RSNA Research & Education Foundation seeks nominations for the Roentgen Resident/Fellow Research award, designed to recognize and encourage outstanding residents and fellows in radiologic research. Each participating North American residency program will receive an award plaque with space to display a brass nameplate for each year’s recipient. The Foundation will also provide a personalized award for the department to present to the selected resident or fellow.

The residency program director or the department chair should identify one individual annually based on the following:

• Presentations of scientific papers at regional or national meetings
• Publication of scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals
• Receipt of a research grant or contributions to the success of a research program within the department
• Other research activities

Every resident/fellow in an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved program of radiology, radiation oncology or nuclear medicine is eligible. Nominations are limited to one resident or fellow per department per year. For more information, including the nomination form and a listing of past recipients, go to RSNA.org/Foundation/RoentgenResidentFellowResearchAward.cfm.