Acta oncologica
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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instrumentation is vulnerable to technical and image quality problems, and quality assurance is essential. In the studied regional imaging center the long-term quality assurance has been based on MagNET phantom measurements. American College of Radiology (ACR) has an accreditation program including a standardized image quality measurement protocol and phantom. The ACR protocol includes recommended acceptance criteria for clinical sequences and thus provides possibility to assess the clinical relevance of quality assurance. The purpose of this study was to test the ACR MRI phantom in quality assurance of a multi-unit imaging center. ⋯ The ACR method was feasible in quality assurance of a multi-unit imaging center and the ACR protocol could replace the MagNET phantom tests. An automatic analysis of the images will further improve cost-effectiveness and objectiveness of the ACR protocol.
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Review Comparative Study
The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial: the prostate cancer screening results in context.
The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) was conducted in sites around USA during a period of marked secular changes in the use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer. ⋯ The information emerging from PLCO is useful to inform the debate around prostate cancer screening. An understanding of the biologic differences underpinning indolent and aggressive prostate cancer will better guide the future development of screening and treatment strategies.
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Quality in health care is important to measure and palliative care is no exception. The Swedish Register of Palliative Care (SRPC) is a national quality register that focuses on the last week of life. It collects data with an end-of-life questionnaire (ELQ), which is validated in this study. ⋯ The results in this study will be used to improve and further develop the register. Some questions need to be more specific to promote more valid registrations. Consensus on quality issues in end-of-life care would simplify the work of writing and answering the questionnaire. It is desirable to perform a similar study at hospital wards that do not specialize in palliative care; however, the anticipated lack of palliative documentation could make such a study difficult to perform.