La Radiologia medica
-
La Radiologia medica · Feb 2012
Comparative StudyDiagnostic accuracy of colour Doppler ultrasonography, CT angiography and blood-pool-enhanced MR angiography in assessing carotid stenosis: a comparative study with DSA in 170 patients.
This study was undertaken to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic performance of colour Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS), first-pass (FP) and steady-state (SS) contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) of the carotid arteries using digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as the reference standard. ⋯ CTA is the most accurate technique for evaluating carotid stenoses, with a slightly better performance than MRA (97% vs. 95% for SS MRA and 92% for FP MRA) and a greater accuracy than CDUS (97% vs. 76%). Blood-pool contrast-enhanced SS sequences offer improved evaluation of degree of stenosis and plaque morphology with accuracy substantially identical to CTA.
-
La Radiologia medica · Feb 2012
Ultrasound contrast media in paediatric patients: is it an off-label use? Regulatory requirements and radiologist's liability.
The use of ultrasound contrast media is yet to be validated in children. The rare reports in the scientific literature denote their "sporadic" and "experimental" use. Their most likely use is in the setting of off-label prescription of medications. As there are still no guidelines available in Italy for the off-label use of medications, we aim to define the duties, obligations and liability of ultrasound radiologists according to the laws in force.