Watch this session on ECR Live: Wednesday, March 4, 16:00–17:30, Room E2
Tweet #ECR2015E2 #PC4A

Remember HAL 9000, the murderous computer in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’? This scenario doesn’t seem too far off when it comes to radiologists and the constant evolution of their technology. Luckily, they can still stay in control if they change their behaviour and remain at the head of the imaging process, experts will argue during a Professional Challenges session today at the ECR.

Radiologists must claim their place in the medical team if they are to survive. They must come out of the shadows and show that they can bring added value to the team, according to Jim Reekers, professor of interventional radiology at the University of Amsterdam, who will chair the session.

Jim Reekers, from the
University of Amsterdam, will
chair the session on the role of the
radiologist.

“I want to make my colleagues aware that they should step out of their offices and act as doctors who work in multidisciplinary teams. Being the photographers or doctors who only give a report with a picture will not secure their future and the reason is very simple: anybody can make and look at a picture nowadays. The difference the radiologist brings is that he or she can give an interpretation of the picture within the context of a patient’s clinical situation. So the radiologist should become a doctor who gets involved with the patient’s situation,” he said.

There is more than one way to do this. For starters, to be on the same level as clinicians, radiologists must behave as such. That means they have to do more than just show the images in multidisciplinary team meetings, they have to sit and discuss them with the doctors.

“Have a junior show the images for you. While my junior presents the pictures, I am sitting together with the other specialists, and suggesting treatment and follow-up options or further diagnostic investigation. It is important to sit with the other doctors. There’s a big difference in how people see me. I’m one of them instead of being the guy who shows the pictures,” Reekers said.

Read more…

Watch this session on ECR Live: Wednesday, March 4, 08:30–10:00, Room E1
Tweet #ECR2015E1 #SF1B

Hearing loss can present many difficulties and obstacles to sufferers, and with ageing populations it’s set to become a major healthcare challenge. Many conditions such as congenital malformation of the inner ear or hypoplastic cochlear nerve can also lead to hearing loss, and sometimes deafness.

Fortunately, many new treatments are available to recover hearing, both partially and completely. Imaging plays an increasingly important role in therapy planning and follow-up, and there is hope on the research front, experts will show during a dedicated Special Focus session on Wednesday morning.

Microtia – congenital anomaly of external and middle ear, resulting in
conductive hearing loss. External auditory canal is not patent (arrow),
mastoid process is underdeveloped (arrowhead)

The prevalence of auditory problems in the Western world has doubled over the past 30 years. It is estimated that between 15 and 17% of the population will suffer hearing loss, due to ageing or congenital malformation, but also bad habits, according to Agnieszka Trojanowska, a radiologist at Lublin University Medical School, Poland, who will
chair the session.

“We start to see young adults in their early 30s with sensorineural hearing loss or other related problems because of high frequency noise, which is typical for listening to music. Twenty years ago, such a condition was linked with working in fabrics or on the street. But the good news is that even if you use your iPod a lot, the degree of hearing
loss is light to moderate, so this is not something that will considerably affect your life,” she said.

Read more…

One thing you can say about the ECR is that every year there is always something new. The ESR loves to innovate, and this year is a great example of that, with a number of changes in place that will make ECR 2015 an even better congress experience than before. Here we take you through some of the most important new additions, as well as a couple of other vital things to take note of.

The ESR Walk of Fame, in the entrance hall at ECR 2015, features some of the stars of the society’s first ten years

1. The ESR’s Tenth Anniversary
The European Society of Radiology was founded in February 2005, so we’re celebrating our tenth anniversary at the ECR. This will be most noticeable in the entrance hall, where you’ll be able to take the ESR Walk of Fame, featuring the stars of the ESR’s first ten years, as well as some of the society’s brightest moments. You’ll also be able to collect your own star from the membership desk (in front of the big flower pot) and stick it to our ESR Wall of Fame

2. Electronic Evaluation
This year, ECR session evaluation and CME acquisition has gone completely digital, saving a huge amount of paper and making the whole system a lot more flexible. Delegates can now complete an online questionnaire for every session, which is accessible via the official ECR 2015 App (available from Tuesday, March 3), on more than 160 laptops in the ECR Live & EPOS Lounge, at the registration counters, and at special CME & Evaluation terminals on the first level.

3. New Session Formats
The number of different educational session types has grown and grown over the years. This year, the programme has been simplified, with the majority now grouped under the heading E³ – European Excellence in Education and divided into five branches reflecting the different stages of an individual’s professional career. Congress President, Prof. Bernd Hamm explains the concept here.

4. Best Paper Awards
Not only are there more scientific sessions this year, but at the end of each one, smartphones and mobile device users will be able to vote for their favourite presentation via an online voting tool. The most popular presentation will be awarded a certificate by the session moderators.

The ESR is launching its new eLearning platform at ECR 2015

5. Education On Demand
The ESR is launching its brand new eLearning platform Education On Demand at ECR 2015. The platform is packed with online educational resources to suit radiologists at every stage of their career, but most significantly for attendees, it also hosts the self-assessment tests for numerous E3 sessions (see point 1, above) at the congress. Bookmark learn.myesr.org and prepare to assess yourself!

6. ECR Live
Just as last year, more than 1,500 presentations will be streamed online during the congress, completely free of charge via ECR Live. And, just like last year, most of those presentations will also be available to watch on demand from the following day onward. Whether you couldn’t make it to Vienna and want to keep up with what’s going on at Europe’s biggest imaging meeting, or you’re at the congress and want to catch something you missed, there’s just one place you need to go: live.myesr.org

7. Social Media Wall
Once again, the ECR Social Media Wall brings all ECR-related social media activity together in one place. Every time someone uses the #ECR2015 hashtag on Twitter, that tweet will appear on all of the many screens throughout the congress venue, as well as the online stream. Plus, we again have an individual wall for every room being streamed on ECR Live. To join the conversation in any room, just add the room name to the hashtag (e.g. #ECR2015B, #ECR2015D1, #ECR2015MB5) or use ECR Live’s integrated chat function.

Dear Friends of the ECR,

With the European Congress of Radiology 2015 now just around the corner, I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am. As an attendee of every ECR over the last 25 years, I have seen the meeting evolve significantly. I have watched the crowds in the entrance hall and the audiences in the lecture rooms swell to a point where the ECR now regularly attracts more than 20,000 participants. I am confident that this year will be no exception, because the ECR’s deserved reputation is not only for high scientific quality but also for constant innovation in science, education, interactivity, and networking.

Many of you will already have received your congress badge in the post and will be patiently waiting for the moment you can proudly display it as you walk into the Austria Center Vienna. A lot of you have hopefully also made use of the Interactive Programme Planner to browse the sessions and posters on offer at ECR 2015 and to start planning your visit. If you’re not attending in person, you can still use it to start planning your online viewing, as most of the sessions will again be available on our streaming platform, ECR Live.

ECR 2015 Congress President, Prof. Bernd Hamm, from Berlin, Germany

An important development this year, which I hope will help to make that planning even easier, is the restructuring of the session formats. Most of the educational sessions at the ECR are now grouped under the heading of E³ – European Excellence in Education, and they are now arranged according to the different levels defined by the European Training Curriculum for Radiology. Here, I would like to introduce you to the five branches of the E³ programme, which reflect the different levels of education in radiology, as well as the different stages of an individual’s professional career:

Rising Stars
The Rising Stars programme is already well established at the ECR; it is a series of sessions prepared especially for residents, medical students, and radiographers in training. This year there are six basic sessions, four student sessions and four different hands-on workshops on ultrasound within the Rising Stars programme.
View the Rising Stars programme in the Interactive Programme Planner > here

Read more…

This month we’re offering you a third and final chance to win free registration for ECR 2015, Europe’s biggest and best imaging meeting. Simply leave your answer to the question below, as a comment on this post, before January 26 (comments now closed). All correct answers will be entered into a draw and a winner will be selected by the editor of ESR News. The answer and winner will be announced by the end of January. Please note that the competition is open to ESR members only.

Question: Which is the most likely diagnosis?

A: Partial tear anterior cruciate ligament
B: Mucoid degeneration anterior cruciate ligament

Click here to reveal the answer

Congratulations to the winner of this month’s competition, Dr. Victor Konikov, who recieves free registration for ECR 2015!

Thank you to all participants and well done to those who got the correct answer. Keep an eye out for the February issue of ESR News and your chance to win a new ESOR-related prize.

The winners of the TMC Radiology Quality Award 2014 from the Silkeborg Clinic (Denmark) with members of the jury at ECR 2014. Left to right: Lluís Donoso Bach (jury), Annette Meyer Balle, Jarl Jakobsen (jury), Rikke Aarhus, Peter Mildenberger (jury), Agnete Hedemann Nielsen, Hans Billing (jury), Susanne Skovlund Petersen, Ian McCall (jury)

The European Congress of Radiology always includes many presentations, but not many of them involve a cheque for €10,000. Last year, at ECR 2014, that was exactly what was presented to Agnete Hedemann Nielsen, Annette Meyer Balle, Susanne Skovlund Petersen and Rikke Aarhus of the Silkeborg Clinic in Denmark, winners of the inaugural TMC Radiology Quality Award.

The award, which is still open for submissions this year until December 31, is open to professional individuals or groups working in European radiology departments and is given by Telemedicine Clinic, the leading European provider of teleradiology services, to promote radiology-related quality initiatives in Europe.
With such a substantial prize on offer, last year’s award attracted some remarkable entries, but the one from Silkeborg most impressed the international jury. The Danish team introduced a process to improve the quality of diagnosis of minor stroke within their hospital, which was previously meeting national standards in 70% of cases. The systems they implemented had an immediate impact, raising that figure to 90% within two weeks and ultimately leading to reduced length of stay, reduced time of diagnosis, faster initiation of treatment, and improved diagnostic accuracy. You can read more about the winning project, as well as the second and third placed entries, here.

So, if you have been involved in a project that has had a positive impact on radiological quality, check out the submission categories and put in for the award. You have nothing to lose, but a possible €10,000 to gain!

This month we’re offering you another chance to win free registration for ECR 2015, Europe’s biggest and best imaging meeting. Simply leave your answer to the question below, as a comment on this post, before December 22 (note: comments are now closed). All correct answers will be entered into a draw and a winner will be selected by the editor of ESR News. The answer and winner will be announced by the end of December. Please note that the competition is open to ESR members only.

Question: which is the most likely diagnosis?

1. Vegetations on a bio-valve-prosthesis caused by endocarditis
2. Papillary fibroelastoma involving the cardiac valve

Click here to reveal the answer

Congratulations to the winner of this month’s competition, Dr. Neda Pak, who recieves free registration for ECR 2015!

Thank you to all participants and well done to those who got the correct answer. Your next chance to win free registration for ECR 2015 will appear in the January issue of ESR News.

This is your chance to win free registration for ECR 2015, Europe’s biggest and best imaging meeting. Simply leave your answer to the question below, as a comment on this post, before November 24 (note: comments are now closed). All correct answers will be entered into a draw and a winner will be selected by the editor of ESR News. The winner will be contacted by email by December 1. Please note that the competition is open to ESR members only.

Question: what is the most likely diagnosis?

A. Mesenteric desmoid tumour
B. Mesenteric lymph node metastase of a small bowel NET (carcinoid)

Click here to reveal the answer

Congratulations to the winner of this month’s competition, Dr. András Székely, who recieves free registration for ECR 2015!

Thank you to all participants and well done to those who got the correct answer. Your next chance to win free registration for ECR 2015 will appear in the December issue of ESR News.

With its slogan ‘radiology without borders’ ECR 2015 embodies the spirit of European cooperation: bringing together imaging experts from all around the world to exchange and discuss the latest trends in their discipline. One of the best examples of ECR’s commitment to international collaboration is the ‘ESR meets’ programme, which invites three national radiological societies to present facts about imaging in their country, and a partner discipline to focus on its cooperation with radiology.

Germany, home to ECR President Prof. Bernd Hamm from Berlin, will kick off the programme on Friday with a session organised by the German Radiological Society (DRG) and entitled ‘Tradition goes digital: getting ready for the future’.

“This session will deal with changes facing radiologists as their world becomes digital; this does not refer to digital imaging modalities but rather to aspects of new options for radiologist training, population-based imaging and hybrid imaging techniques,” Prof. Hamm said.

“Today, in many areas of life, digitisation is the most important trend. Radiology, due to its everyday use of technology, is at the forefront of medical specialties in this respect. Digitisation, as we all know, needs a conscious effort on the part of the user: as radiologists, we do not want to be led but to lead. So we should stop a moment and think how digitisation impacts our profession. Some examples will be given in the session,” said DRG President Prof. Norbert Hosten from Greifswald, who will co-moderate the session.

Read more…

Sessions will look different at ECR 2015, to help participants make the most of the scientific and educational programme. ECR Today spoke with Professor Bernd Hamm from Berlin, Germany, who will preside over the congress next year, to find out what the biggest radiological meeting in Europe and the most modern one worldwide will look like in 2015.

ESR Office: What will be the main highlights of ECR 2015’s teaching programme?
Bernd Hamm: One of the major changes will be a restructuring of the session categories. Over the last few years, we kept adding new types of sessions, making it difficult for participants to find the sessions they are interested in and compile an efficient individual schedule. Apart from the Refresher Courses, which have become well established and accepted, we now offer most teaching courses under the heading of E³ – European Excellence in Education. These courses are now structured according to the different levels defined by the European Training Curriculum for Radiology. The E³ programme consists of the following five branches, which reflect the different levels of education in radiology, as well as the different stages of an individual’s professional career: Rising Stars, European Diploma Prep Sessions, The Beauty of Basic Knowledge, ECR Academies, and ECR Master Classes.

Prof. Bernd Hamm, professor of radiology and chairman of all three
merged departments of radiology at the Charité, Humboldt-
Universität zu Berlin and Freie Universität (Campus Mi e, Campus
Virchow-Klinikum, and Campus Benjamin Franklin).

The Rising Stars programme is directed at medical students with an interest in radiology, residents, and radiographers in training. The European Diploma Prep Sessions aim to provide preparatory sessions for future European Diploma in Radiology (EDiR) candidates. The content of the programme reflects level I and II of the European Training Curriculum. These courses are held in close cooperation with the European Board of Radiology (EBR). The Beauty of Basic Knowledge programme focuses on knowledge essential to the daily practice of radiology and is best suited to residents and board-certified radiologists. The ECR Academies consist of a series of sessions relevant to a particular area of radiology, and may be suited to general radiologists and radiologists with a subspecialisation. The content of ECR Academies mostly corresponds to level III of the European Training Curriculum. The ECR Master Classes are designed for participants and subspecialists seeking cutting-edge information in specific field of interest. During the ECR, one ECR Master Class is offered for each subspecialty in radiology (level III and beyond). This new structure of a major part of the teaching courses offered at the ECR results from intense exchange and excellent cooperation between the Congress Programme Planning Committee members.

ESR: What will the ECR Academies focus on?
BH: The ECR Academies in 2015 will focus on the new hot issues, such as hybrid imaging, image-guided interventions in oncology, and modern imaging of the GI tract. In addition, there will be sessions covering genitourinary radiology and our popular interactive teaching sessions focusing on different aspects of radiology.

Read more…