A press release has been sent to the medical news media for the following article appearing in the current issue of Radiology (RSNA.org/radiology):

Increasing Carotid Plaque Echolucency Predicts Cardiovascular Events in High Risk Patients

Graph shows risk estimates displaying adjusted hazards for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE)-free survival until 3 years for 574 patients according to mean changes of gray scale median (GSM, in quartiles) during initial 6- 9-month period.

Hazard ratios were calculated with multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis adjusting for age, sex, history of hypertension, current smoking, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, glycosylated hemoglobin A1 levels, body mass index, positive family history for cardiovascular disease, history of myocardial infarction or stroke, prevalent peripheral artery disease, use of statins during the study period and degree of carotid stenosis at baseline.

Researchers have found that grayscale median (GSM) imaging of carotid artery plaques may identify patients at high risk for major adverse cardiovascular events. Markus Reiter, M.D., of the Medical University Vienna General Hospital in Austria, and colleagues found in repeated ultrasound examinations of 574 patients that GSM imaging identified echolucency of carotid artery plaques. Increasing echolucency, they observe, predicted increased incidence of clinical adverse events associated with atherosclerosis.

Participating patients were initially asymptomatic and had carotid artery plaques at the level of bifurcation with a diameter reduction greater than 30 percent. Forty percent of patients demonstrated decreasing GSM levels and 60 percent showed an increase. During a clinical follow-up period of a median 3.2 years, the researchers recorded 296 major adverse cardiovascular events in 177 patients, including 21 myocardial infarctions, 34 strokes, five amputations due to critical limb ischemia and 89 deaths. Percutaneous coronary interventions, coronary artery bypass graft, peripheral percutaneous angioplasty and peripheral vascular surgery were also included.

"Plaque morphology represented by GSM seems to add additional information in the complex process of cardiovascular risk stratification," Reiter and colleagues observe, "and repeat ultrasound examinations have the potential to reflect the activity of atherosclerotic disease."

To access this Radiology article now, click here.

Media Coverage of Radiology

In July, media outlets carried 319 news stories generated by articles appearing in Radiology. These stories reached an estimated 182 million people.

News releases promoted findings from a study on long-term effectiveness of CT screening for lung cancer (Radiology 2008;248:278-287), use of heel ultrasound to estimate osteoporotic fracture risk (Radiology 2008;248:179-184) and automated hippocampal volumetry to differentiate among Alzheimer disease, mild cognitive impairment and normal aging (Radiology 2008;248:194-201).

Print and wire coverage included Palm Beach Post, Post-Tribune (Gary, Ind.), Rochester Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Minn.), Fidelity+, Diagnostic Imaging, Reuters, United Press International and Healthday.

Broadcast coverage included KTAL-TV (Shreveport, La.), KTSM-TV (El Paso, Texas), KULR-TV (Billings, Mont.), WCAU-TV (Philadelphia), WCMH-TV (Columbus, Ohio), WESH-TV (Orlando, Fla.), WMTV-TV (Madison, Wis.), WNCN-TV (Raleigh/Durham, N.C.), WNWO-TV (Toledo, Ohio), WOAI-TV (San Antonio), WOWT-TV (Omaha, Neb.), WSAV-TV (Savannah, Ga.) and WSTM-TV (Syracuse, N.Y.).

Web placements included WebMD, Yahoo! News, MSNBC.com, Washingtonpost.com, CBSnews.com, ABCnews.com, Healthcentral.com, ajc.com, docguide.com, USNews.com and Forbes.com.

September Public Information Activities Focus on Ovarian and Prostate Cancers

In recognition of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in September, RSNA will distribute public service announcements (PSAs) focusing on symptoms of ovarian and prostate cancers, risk factors, screening methods and possible treatment options.

In addition to the PSAs, RSNA will also distribute the "60-Second Checkup" audio program to radio stations. The "60-Second Checkup" also focuses on ovarian and prostate cancers and will include such themes as prostate cancer screening and pelvic imaging in women to detect abnormalities.