Academic radiology
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This study evaluates utilization trends of emergency department (ED)-ordered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations in an adult academic medical center over a 5-year period (2001-2005). ⋯ Multiple reasons are suggested that may increase utilization (perceived need for diagnostic certainty, as well as medico-legal and patient-driven factors). Whether this increase in MRI utilization resulted in improved patient outcomes is unclear and should be studied further. Implications for radiologist coverage and resident training are discussed.
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Splenic preservation is currently the trend for treatment of patients with splenic trauma to avoid complications of splenectomy. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of emergent transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) for hemodynamically unstable patients with blunt splenic injury. ⋯ TAE is a safe and effective procedure for treating blunt splenic injury even in hemodynamically unstable patients who responded to initial fluid resuscitation.
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To assess the pretest practices of US clinicians who treat patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). ⋯ The majority of clinicians we surveyed use an unstructured approach when estimating the pretest probability of acute PE. With the exception of low probability scenario, clinicians agreed on testing choices in suspected acute PE, regardless of the method or frequency of pre-test assessment.
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In regions of intravoxel fiber crossing, the single-tensor model does not provide accurate results. The previously published models could resolve this issue but needed a long scan time and long computational time. This article aims to present the new model, which uses interpolated diffusion tensor orientations and requires the estimation of fewer parameters than the previously published model, where all parameters for the two diffusion ellipsoids have to be estimated. ⋯ The proposed radial basis function-based technique could reconstruct diffusion properties at the fiber-crossing volume from sparse sampling of high angular diffusion weighted images.
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Comparative Study
Phase-sensitive inversion recovery single-shot balanced steady-state free precession for detection of myocardial infarction during a single breathhold.
We sought to show that phase-sensitive detection and a single-shot technique allow imaging of the heart for detection of myocardial infarction during a single breathhold without adaptation of the inversion time. ⋯ PSIR single-shot TrueFISP allows for accurate identification of myocardial infarction during a single breathhold with reduction of scan time by a factor of 38.