Quality | October 2018

Primary care physicians who order a large number of one low-value screening test tend to order large numbers of other low-value screening tests as well, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open. The authors suggested that high-intensity interventions focused on these physicians may be one way to reduce such low-value care going forward.

New research out of Sweden found that digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), or 3D mammography, can detect 34 percent more breast cancers than traditional mammography. A majority of the identified breast tumors were classified as invasive.

Involving a radiologist as a co-author in a case report containing radiological images improves its overall quality, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Targeted breast ultrasound should be the initial imaging evaluation for women between the ages of 30 and 39 presenting with focal breast symptoms, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology. Mammography can provide some value in detecting cancers distant from the area of clinical concern, yet its cancer detection rate (CDR) in such a scenario is still rather low.

Researchers have found that high-dose radiation therapy can improve survival for oligometastatic patients, according to findings to be presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

Chest CT is more accurate than chest x-rays for postmortem rib fracture detection, according to research published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

MRI wall thickness measurements of a patient’s carotid arteries improves the quality of cardiovascular disease risk assessment, according to a new study published in Radiology.

Second-opinion imaging consultations can directly impact the management of patients with hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) disease, according to new research published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.