RSNA has been named one of five Innovators of 2009 by Association Meetings. The magazine singled out association professionals, who, "even during this difficult economy, were able to look at their meetings with fresh eyes and find new ways to drive attendance, create a better educational environment and use the latest technologies to deliver a better experience for attendees and exhibitors at their conferences." RSNA Technical Exhibit Services Director Tom Shimala accepted the honor on behalf of RSNA.

The magazine touted RSNA's successful efforts to evenly distribute attendee traffic so that vendor booths received maximum exposure, as well as the addition of Bistro RSNA, which provides a convenient, high-quality dining option in each exhibit hall.

Read the full profile at meetingsnet.com/tradeshows/am_innovators_080109.

PET Series Named SNM Image of the Year

A PET image series illustrating nuclear medicine therapy response in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma has been named SNM's Image of the Year.

The series is two sets of before-and-after scans from two patients treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. One patient received iodine-131 tositumomab (Bexxar®); the other received yttrium-90 ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin®). The PET images reveal that both patients showed no metabolically active non-Hodgkin lymphoma three months after treatment.

"This image is really remarkable because it shows two positive benefits of molecular imaging and nuclear medicine at the same time," said Henry N. Wagner Jr., SNM past-president and professor at The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, who annually selects the SNM Image of the Year from thousands presented at the society's annual meeting. "First, the PET scans demonstrate the power of radioimmunotherapy to fight advanced cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma," said Wagner. "In addition, this is proof of how PET scans are indispensable tools for managing patient care and determining whether treatments are working as intended."

For more information, visit snm.org.

Restart of Canadian Reactor Planned for Early 2010

Shut down since late May due to a water leak, the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) Chalk River Laboratory in Ontario is expected to restart in early 2010.

The NRU reactor provides half of the U.S. supply of the molybendum-99 radioisotope (Mo-99). About 80 percent of the 16 million nuclear medicine procedures performed annually in the U.S. use technetium-99m, made from the decay of Mo-99. AECL has signed a protocol agreement with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to execute safe repairs and restart the reactor.

The shuttering of the 52-year-old reactor has compounded the global radioisotope shortage that could impede nuclear medicine procedures (see "Medical Isotope Shortage Threatens Patient Care," RSNA News, June 2009). Meanwhile, the High Flux Reactor in Petten, Netherlands, which unexpectedly shut down briefly in August, is scheduled for another planned maintenance shutdown in early 2010.

AECL continues to post status reports on NRU's repair. "The duration of the shutdown continues to be founded on the best evidence available, including the most up-to-date analysis of the heavy water leak site, vessel condition, repair strategies and critical path requirements for restart after an extended shutdown," according to a recent statement. Updates can be found at nrucanada.ca.

Image Gently Campaign Extends to Interventional Radiology

The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging has launched the next phase of the Image Gently Campaign—Step Lightly: Safety in Pediatric Interventional Radiology. Step Lightly resources are designed to help providers use the lowest dose necessary to perform interventional procedures on children and maintain the quality of patient care.

The Image Gently Web site, imagegently.org, has been updated with new content supporting the Step Lightly message. Materials include:

• Downloadable presentation for use by providers to teach their staff methods to reduce dose and maintain quality. Radiologists are encouraged to give this talk locally.

• Downloadable checklist of dose reduction steps the team can review for each patient.

• Downloadable outline of steps the department can take to reduce dose and maintain quality.

• Patient brochure including answers for parents about interventional radiology procedures. Providers can use this as a guide to communicate with parents about their concerns and the benefits of interventional procedures to patients.

The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging launched the Image Gently campaign in January 2008. The alliance now includes 45 organizations representing more than 400,000 healthcare providers worldwide.

CMS Proposes to Cover FDG-PET for Cervical Cancer Staging

Following requests by organizations including the American College of Radiology (ACR) and SNM, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed to cover a single fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET exam for staging biopsy-proven cervical cancer.

"CMS proposes that the evidence is adequate to determine that the results of FDG-PET imaging for cervical cancer staging of beneficiaries diagnosed with cervical cancer are used by the treating physician to make meaningful changes in therapeutic management and improve health outcomes, and thus are reasonable and necessary," according to the proposal.

FDG-PET would be covered when the beneficiary's physician decides the study is needed to determine the location and/or extent of the tumor in order to determine appropriateness for an invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedure, to determine the optimal anatomic location for an invasive procedure or to determine the anatomic extent of the tumor when the recommended treatment depends on tumor extent.

For more information, visit cms.hhs.gov.