RSNA News - Journal Highlights

RSNA News - February 2005

Journal Highlights

The following are highlights from the current issues of RSNA's two peer-reviewed journals.

State of the Art: Digital Mammography

Advanced applications available with digital mammography hold great promise for the improved early diagnosis of breast cancer. Three digital mammography systems have completed FDA approval, while a fourth is under review.

In this "State of the Art" article in the February issue of Radiology (rsna.org/radiologyjnl), Etta D. Pisano, M.D., from the University of North Carolina, and Martin J. Yaffe, Ph.D., from the University of Toronto:

Review the technology for digital mammography
Present data from clinical trials that support the use of digital mammography technology
Describe several potentially useful applications that can be developed with digital mammography

The article also includes "Essentials" or highlighted points to help busy readers recognize important information at a glance.


Images illustrate tomosynthesis. (a) Conventional radiograph of tissue specimen containing microcalcifications (arrows). (b) Reconstructions of tomosynthetic images in two planes separated by 3 mm illustrate 3D distribution of calcifications (arrows). Images courtesy of L. Niklason, Ph.D., GE Medical Systems.

To access this article online, go to radiology.rsnajnls.org.

(Radiology 2005;234:353-62)
© 2005 RSNA. All rights reserved. Printed with permission.

Diffusion-Tensor MR Imaging and Fiber Tractography in Developmental CNS Anomalies: A New Method of Describing Aberrant Fiber Connections

Diffusion-tensor MR imaging (DTI) and fiber tractography (FT) are recently introduced techniques that can demonstrate the orientation of white matter fibers as well as the integrity in vivo; however, their clinical application is still under investigation.

In a review article in the January-February issue of RadioGraphics (rsna.org/radiographics), Seung-Koo Lee, M.D., from Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea, and colleagues examine developmental central nervous system (CNS) anomalies with DTI and FT and then compare the findings with those obtained by using conventional MR imaging. They also investigate the clinical usefulness of DTI and FT in describing the aberrant fiber connections to provide a better understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms of congenital diseases.

Discussion includes:

Imaging protocol
Abnormalities of the corpus callosum
Malformations of cortical development
Cerebral palsy
Posterior fossa malformations
Technical considerations
Conclusions

The authors write: "This study obtained additional or unique findings in CNS developmental disease by using DTI-FT. … Future studies will be focused on determining the meaning of the aberrant fiber connections and their relationship with the clinical manifestations of the CNS anomalies."



Heterotopia in an 18-month-old girl with delayed development. (a) Axial T2-weighted MR image shows thick band heterotopia, the so-called double cortex. (b) Axial FA map shows that heterotopic gray matter has high anisotropy, a finding suggestive of its radial orientation and of arrested neuronal migration. (c) FT image shows failure of the normal connection between the deep white matter and the cortex and absence of cortico-cortical connections (arrows). (d) FT image obtained in a normal child shows normal subcortical U-fibers (arrows) and fiber connectivity between the deep white matter and the cortex.

Advertising info >