Canadian Association of Radiologists journal = Journal l'Association canadienne des radiologistes
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It is well known that radiologic-pathologic correlation is critical in managing patients with breast disease. Although regular multidisciplinary conferences addressing radiologic-pathologic correlation are common at most major academic institutions, this approach is not universal in community-based settings or even some of the smaller academic practices. This study was performed to assess the impact of a weekly multidisciplinary conference on patient care to determine whether all breast practices should adopt this approach as a means to streamline and improve the quality of patient care. ⋯ Our weekly breast radiology-pathology correlation conference impacted patient management in up to 5.3% of cases. These results support the need to incorporate a weekly multidisciplinary case review of breast core biopsies into all breast care practices. Such a conference maximizes cancer detection, identifies discordant cases in a timely manner, decreases follow-up imaging, and avoids unnecessary surgical intervention.
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Atypical femoral fractures (AFF) are recently described events related to osteoporosis and, potentially, a rare result of antiresorptive treatment. ⋯ Hospital discharge coding misclassified a great majority of femoral fractures as subtrochanteric. As an essential criteria for diagnosing AFF is their subtrochanteric location, this misclassification impaired our ability to retrospectively search for AFF patients. Radiologists tended not to report AFF when typical radiographic characteristics were present. Bilateral and multifocal disease is of interest in pointing to the diagnosis and in suggesting that the mechanism of injury in respect of these unusual fractures is more complex than simple low-energy trauma.
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Treatment of Contained Herniated Lumbar Discs With Ozone and Corticosteroid: A Pilot Clinical Study.
The primary objective of this pilot study was to compare pain and function scores from patients before and after an ozone injection in combination with steroids and bupivacaine to treat herniated discs. A secondary objective was to correct some of the methodological weaknesses of some previously published ozone studies. ⋯ Patients showed significant improvement in pain and function after receiving ozone injections in combination with steroids and bupivacaine for the treatment of herniated discs. Because of the lack of a control group and short follow-up times, conclusions about the safety and efficacy of ozone injections for the treatment of herniated discs are not warranted. However, the results provide sufficient evidence that the risk and expense of an additional randomized controlled study is merited.
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Comparative Study
Out of Hours Emergency Computed Tomography Brain Studies: Comparison of Standard 3 Megapixel Diagnostic Workstation Monitors With the iPad 2.
The purpose was to compare performance of diagnostic workstation monitors and the Apple iPad 2 (Cupertino, CA) in interpretation of emergency computed tomography (CT) brain studies. ⋯ The iPad 2 is a reliable modality in the interpretation of CT brain studies in them emergency setting and for the detection of acute and chronic abnormalities, with comparable performance to standard diagnostic workstation monitors.
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In July 2012, in response to residents' concerns regarding the impact of the traditional 24-hour call system on their personal well-being and educational experience, the University of British Columbia Radiology residency program adopted a 12-hour night float system. This shift takes place in the context of increasing concerns, both across Canada and internationally, about resident well-being and the impact of prolonged duty hours on patient care. ⋯ The vast majority of our residents were in favor of maintaining the night float call system. Night float had a beneficial effect on the resident educational experience: by eliminating the pre-call morning and post-call day off rotation, residents gained an additional 24 days per year on other clinical rotations.