AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology
-
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Jan 2012
Utilization rates of neuroradiology across neuroscience specialties in the private office setting: who owns or leases the scanners on which studies are performed?
Recent literature shows an increasing portion of imaging studies being conducted and interpreted by nonradiologists, especially across the modalities with the highest RVUs. We examined the trends in the Medicare technical charges for private office neuroradiology studies submitted by subspecialists to identify utilization trends among MR and CT scanner owners or lessees over the last decade. ⋯ All nonradiologists showed greater overall utilization growth in private office neuroradiology than did radiology. Also, nonradiologists generally showed greater utilization increases in MR than CT. Radiologists' private office neuroradiology technical fee share shrank from 83.6% to 56.6% between 1998 and 2008.
-
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Jan 2012
A safe and efficacious alternative: sonographically guided internal jugular vein puncture for intracranial endovascular intervention.
Transvenous interventions for intracranial vascular lesions are usually performed via venous access of a femoral vein puncture. However, the transjugular route is an alternative with a shorter and less tortuous vascular access for intracranial lesions. ⋯ We present our experience with a total of 44 transjugular intervention procedures between April 1999 and June 2010. We believe sonographically guided internal jugular vein puncture is a safe and efficacious technique for establishing transvenous access for an intracranial endovascular intervention.
-
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Dec 2011
Using quantitative CT perfusion for evaluation of delayed cerebral ischemia following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
DCI is a serious complication following aneurysmal SAH leading to permanent neurologic deficits, infarction, and death. Our aim was to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CTP and to determine a quantitative threshold for DCI in aneurysmal SAH. ⋯ CBF and MTT have the highest overall diagnostic accuracy. Threshold values of 35 mL/100 g/min for CBF and 5.5-second MTT are suggested for DCI on the basis of the patient population utility method. Absolute threshold values may not be generalizable due to differences in scanner equipment and postprocessing methods.
-
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Dec 2011
Multiparametric MR imaging of sinonasal diseases: time-signal intensity curve- and apparent diffusion coefficient-based differentiation between benign and malignant lesions.
The sinonasal region is a platform for a broad spectrum of benign and malignant diseases, and image-based differentiation between benign and malignant diseases in this area is often difficult. Here, we evaluated multiparametric MR imaging with combined use of TICs and ADCs for the differentiation between benign and malignant sinonasal tumors and tumorlike diseases. ⋯ Multiparametric MR imaging by using TICs and ADCs may help differentiate benign and malignant sinonasal diseases.