This year, the main theme of the International Day of Radiology is emergency radiology. To get some insight into the field, we spoke to Dr. Elizabeth Dick, BSc, MD, consultant radiologist and honorary senior lecturer at Imperial College London, United Kingdom.

European Society of Radiology: Could you please describe the role of the radiologist in a typical emergency department in your country?
Elizabeth Dick: It varies. In many hospitals, traditional model remains; radiology and emergency departments are distant from each other. There may be one or two consultant radiologists with an interest in emergency imaging who are the ‘go to’ radiologists for the emergency team during the day. After hours, on-call radiologists will be the point of contact, but they are busy with many services, and increasingly may be remote from the hospital they cover.

Dr. Elizabeth Dick, BSc, MD has worked as a consultant radiologist and honorary senior lecturer at Imperial College London since 2002.

Teleradiology often is used to deliver after-hours care, with obvious advantages. The result is an inevitable loss of personal interaction between the radiology and emergency departments. However, set against this traditional model is the ‘gold standard’. Since 2010, a network of major trauma centres was set up across the UK to deliver excellence in trauma care. In these centres, radiologists usually are an integral part of the trauma team, and the CT scanner is usually co-located in the emergency department. This has a ripple effect: Not only is trauma imaging improved, with resulting lower morbidity and mortality, but all emergency patients benefit from a closer relationship between radiologists and the emergency department team.

ESR: What does a typical day in the emergency department look like for a radiologist?
ED: I start my day at 7am by checking all the reports from the night before so that I can speak to the emergency teams as they do their ward rounds at 8am. Our radiology registrars and residents do two, twelve-hour shifts (8am to 8pm), so this is a good opportunity for the on-call registrars to discuss cases they found particularly challenging. Like all hospitals, we perform more imaging examinations each year. On average, there are at least 25 patients who get imaging (mainly CT) overnight, which means a huge responsibility for the radiology registrars on call. Although they may reach out to the duty consultant during their call, for most scans, registrars issue a report based on their own findings. We regularly audit their reports, and the discrepancy rate is very low – probably due to the fact that they strive to work hard to learn. Also, they get a lot of training and support before, during and after being on call.

Read more…

Over the last few years we have seen more and more people getting into the spirit of the International Day of Radiology (IDoR), holding parties and get-togethers around the world. In the photographs of these celebrations there is often a delicious looking cake, so this year we decided to encourage this as much as possible by launching the IDoR Cake Competition, with a grand prize of free registration for the European Congress of Radiology 2017, along with two nights hotel accommodation.

We received lots of submissions, but below is our jury’s selection of the most original and creative entries. Please vote for your favourite – the cake with the most votes at 12:00 (CET) on November 16 will be our winner!

Read more…

This year, the main theme of the International Day of Radiology is breast imaging. To get some insight into the field, we spoke to Prof. Boris Brkljačić, professor of radiology and Vice-Dean at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Croatia, and Chairman of the ESR Communications and External Affairs Committee.

European Society of Radiology: Breast imaging is widely known for its role in the detection of breast cancer. Could you please briefly outline the advantages and disadvantages of the various modalities used in this regard?
Boris Brkljačić: Mammography, ultrasound and MRI are three modalities used for the detection of breast cancer. Mammography has been used for many decades, and the introduction of full flat panel digital mammography has enabled image acquisition with a lower radiation dose, and other advantages in image processing and biopsies. Mammography is used widely in breast cancer screening and has been validated through decades of screening. It is also the initial imaging method in women older than 40 and it enables the detection of microcalcifications, the early signs of ductal cancer in situ, and the majority of breast cancers, depending on the radiographic density of the breast. It can also be used to guide biopsy of microcalcifications. The denser the breasts are, the lower the sensitivity of mammography in detecting breast lesions, which is the disadvantage of mammography. The new mammographic method, digital tomosynthesis, improves the detection rate of cancer in dense breasts. Mammography exposes patients to radiation and is therefore not recommended in young women because their breasts are very radiosensitive.

Prof. Boris Brkljačić, Professor of Radiology and Vice-Dean at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Croatia, and Chairman of the ESR Communications and External Affairs Committee.

Ultrasound is an imaging method that provides images based on the acoustic properties of tissues. The blood flow in lesions can be analysed by colour Doppler ultrasound, and elasticity of lesions can be analysed and quantified by sonoelastography. The advantage of ultrasound is that it is completely harmless; it does not expose patients to radiation, and is an excellent method for the guidance of biopsies of all sonographically visible lesions. Ultrasound can demonstrate cancers that are not visible in mammographically dense breasts, and is the complementary imaging modality to mammography, both in diagnosis and in screening. Some U.S. states legally oblige physicians to inform women about mammographic density and advise them of additional methods of examination in dense breasts. Among many advantages in ultrasound technology are the automated whole-breast ultrasound systems that have recently been introduced to the market. The disadvantage of ultrasound is that it increases the number of false-positive findings.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast has gained considerable importance over the last two decades and is used more and more in breast imaging. It is used in high-risk screening, in the detection of occult cancer with positive lymph nodes, and in the evaluation of implants, and it is the best method for detecting the presence of and assessing the distribution and extent of cancer. It can also be used to monitor the success of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and is an excellent method for looking for residual cancer or recurrence after treatment. MRI is relatively expensive and time consuming, although abbreviated MRI protocols have recently been introduced.

For treatment planning and monitoring it is very important to know the exact type and grade of cancer, and its immunohistochemical profile. Image guided biopsy is crucial in relation to that, and all imaging methods enable precise, image-guided biopsy to obtain an adequate sample from the breast cancer and other breast lesions.
Read more…

Dear Friends,

Today we are showing a case in recognition of the International Day of Radiology, which takes place tomorrow.

Below are images of a 35-year-old woman with chest pain and progressive dyspnoea for the last three weeks. Leave your thoughts in the comments section and come back on Friday for the answer.

Most likely diagnosis:

1. Lymphoma
2. Pleural metastases
3. Mesothelioma
4. Any of the above

Read more…

This year, the main theme of the International Day of Radiology is breast imaging. To get some insight into the field, we spoke to Dr. Ilse Vejborg, head of radiology at the University Hospital of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet and head of the Capital Mammography Screening programme in Denmark.

European Society of Radiology: Breast imaging is widely known for its role in the detection of breast cancer. Could you please briefly outline the advantages and disadvantages of the various modalities used in this regard?
Ilse Vejborg: Mammography is a fast examination, showing the whole breast, if performed properly. Mammography has a high sensitivity to fatty tissue but the sensitivity can be compromised in dense breasts. Ultrasonography is an important supplementary examination which should be used in diagnostic examinations of women with palpable lumps or other symptoms in the breast. In experienced hands, ultrasound is the best examination for distinguishing a solid from cystic palpable lump but often also for evaluating whether the lump looks benign or malignant. Ultrasonography offers the possibility of evaluating the blood flow (Doppler) and stiffness (elastography) in a process and can be used to perform ultrasound-guided interventions.

MR Mammography has the highest sensitivity of all the imaging modalities but a more varying specificity; the latter is probably partly explained by the fact that in contrast to mammography screening, where high volume readers reading more than 5,000 examinations a year are mandatory, high volume readers of MR mammography are rarer.

Dr. Ilse Vejborg, head of radiology at the University Hospital of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet and head of the Capital Mammography Screening programme in Denmark.

ESR: Early detection of breast cancer is the most important issue for reducing mortality, which is one reason for large-scale screening programmes. What kind of programmes are in place in your country and where do you see the advantages and possible disadvantages?
IV: In Denmark we have nationwide, organised, population-based mammography screening. Mammography screening is offered every second year free of charge in the target age group of women aged 50–69 years. Mammography screening is the only imaging modality proven to reduce breast cancer mortality. It is a fast and inexpensive examination which can be performed without the presence of the physicians. In Denmark, all screening centres have digital mammography equipment and RIS and PACS systems.

Nationwide mammography screening in Denmark was implemented rather late compared to our Nordic neighbours and Denmark has had a higher mortality of breast cancer than the other Nordic countries. Mammography screening started in Copenhagen municipality in 1991, in the county of Fyn in 1993 and in the municipality of Frederiksberg (close to Copenhagen) in 1994. These programmes offering screening only to around 20% of the target population were for many years the only screening programmes in Denmark. Not until 2010 did we have a nationwide roll out of mammography screening.

Read more…

This year, the main theme of the International Day of Radiology is breast imaging. To get some insight into the field, we spoke to Dr. Viera Lehotská, Associate Professor and Head of the 2nd Radiology Department of the Faculty of Medicine Comenius University and St. Elizabeth’s Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.

European Society of Radiology: Breast imaging is widely known for its role in the detection of breast cancer. Could you please briefly outline the advantages and disadvantages of the various modalities used in this regard?
Viera Lehotská: Mammography, including recent trends (e.g. tomosynthesis), is considered to be an essential, highly sensitive and representative method in the diagnostics of non-palpable breast lesions, especially those with the presence of microcalcifications. Based on this fact, mammography is generally accepted as the only proper method for active detection of breast cancer in the screening process. One disadvantage is the use of ionising radiation, and some patients might also consider the need for breast compression during imaging another disadvantage. But its contribution to the diagnosis of early stages of breast cancer significantly outweighs these limitations.

Dr. Viera Lehotská, Associate Professor and Head of the 2nd Radiology Department of the Faculty of Medicine Comenius University and St. Elizabeth’s Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.

Ultrasound examination of the breast and the axilla serves as the main complementary method to mammography: for differentiation between cystic and solid lesions as well as for the elimination of occult lesions in dense breast glands. For younger women (under 40), pregnant women, or women during lactation, as well as for women with inflammatory breast disease or impaired mammary implants, ultrasound is used as the first choice examination method. Its benefit is not only its low cost but also its repeatability and non-risk character. Together with newer trends such as US-elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), it contributes to the assessment of lesions dignity (whether it is benign or malignant). It is very helpful in the follow-up of operated and irradiated breast and is therefore an important part of the monitoring of patients after surgery for breast cancer.

MR-mammography has strictly defined indications, which, if they are kept to, makes it a robust method. It has high sensitivity in the diagnosis of invasive breast carcinoma. Its specificity can be increased by using functional MRI methods such as diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI, and MR-spectroscopy. In addition, its potential is not only in the assessment of the extent of breast cancer (multiplicity, etc.) or in the assessment of early response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, but also in its high sensitivity in high risk groups.

Interventional methods also play a very important role, whether under the MG-stereotactic, ultrasound or MR-navigation. Preoperative histologisation of breast lesions by standard vacuum-assisted biopsy or by the Intact BLES (Breast Lesion Excision System) is an indispensable part of the exact diagnosis of the character of breast lesions. Similarly, image-guided localisation techniques enable effective surgical treatment of breast cancer.

Read more…

Dear Friends,

Today we’re showing chest radiographs of a 57-year-old man with chest pain and dyspnoea.

Check the images below, leave your thoughts in the comments, and come back on Friday for the answer.

Diagnosis:

1. Carcinoma of the lung
2. Thymoma
3. Lymphoma
4. None of the above

Read more…

Dear Friends,

Today we are showing another pre-op case, including a PA chest radiograph of a 62-year-old man with lumbar hernia. Check the image below, give us your thoughts in the comments, and come back on Friday for the answer.

Diagnosis:

1. TB
2. Carcinoma
3. Pulmonary hypertension
4. None of the above

Read more…

Dear Friends,

Over the last couple of years, one of the last sessions at the ECR has always covered 20 interesting cases from various subspecialties, which the audience are asked to solve in an interactive way to broaden and update their knowledge.

In between, the very best submissions from the global radiological community have been presented in an interlude lecture. The best submission has always been awarded with a prize and a certificate.

Due to time limits, only a small number of submitted cases can actually be shown onsite, but the session’s rising popularity has resulted in increasing numbers of submissions of excellent quality. This is why we would like to give our submitters the opportunity to reach a broader audience by posting the best cases here on the ESR Blog.

Read more…

The winners of the ECR 2016 Cases of the Day Quiz are as follows:

S.A. Sohaib; Sutton/UK
Kemal Kara; Istanbul/TR
Ersin Ozturk; Istanbul/TR
Bertram Feil; Zurich/CH
Miguel Nogueira; Marinha/PT
Yu Kuo; Taipei/TW
Filip M.H.M. Vanhoenacker; Antwerp/BE
Bilal Battal; Ankara/TR
Floor van der Wolf – de Lijster; Sneek/NL

To view the cases please click here.

Congratulations to all winners!