Royal College Of Radiologists Highlights Cutting Edge UK Research At RSNA 2009

Main Category: Radiology / Nuclear Medicine
Article Date: 05 Nov 2009 - 1:00 PST

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Emergency radiology, high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and magnetic resonance (MR) fluoroscopy will be highlighted as fields of imaging in which the UK is playing a key role, at a special session, "UK Presents" at the Radiological Society of North America's Annual Meeting in Chicago on Monday 30 November 2009.

The session is moderated by Professor Andy Adam, President of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), with three key speakers:

- Dr Tony Nicholson, Dean for Clinical Radiology at the RCR, on "The development of emergency radiology";

- Professor David Hansell, Director of Radiology at Royal Brompton Hospital, London, on "HRCT of the lungs: a treasure trove of silver insights";

- Professor David Lomas, Professor of Clinical MRI at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on "MR fluoroscopy: from red goggles to earplugs".

Professor Adam said, "Britons invented or co-invented ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and have played a major role in the clinical development of modern diagnostic and interventional radiology. The 'UK Presents' session is particularly appropriate in view of the very close links between British and American radiology. There are many similarities in the practice of our specialty on the two sides of the Atlantic but, in science as in life, there are also sufficient differences for us to have things to teach each other."

Speaking on his lecture, Dr Nicholson said, "Radiology has always had a role to play in the diagnosis of the emergency patient. However, the tools used have become increasingly sophisticated and accurate, and it is now doubtful whether any emergency patient does not benefit from imaging. The most remarkable development is the way in which radiologists now use these tools to treat patients, particularly those with life threatening conditions. It used to be said that some patient were too unstable for a CT scan but this no longer needs to be true and it can be argued that the more unstable the patient the greater the benefit of imaging".

Professor Hansell said, "High-resolution CT has been responsible for changes in both the accuracy of diagnosis of, and our understanding of the behaviour of, diffuse lung diseases. It also provides information about the prognosis of individual patients and helps to stratify groups of patients enrolled in clinical trials. I aim to contrast the speed with which we have derived knowledge from high-resolution CT, with the more sedate rate at which advances were made, using chest radiography, in the last century. I will also discuss the increasingly complex, but complementary, relationship between pathology and radiology in the challenging area of diffuse lung disease diagnosis."

Professor Lomas said, "X-ray based fluoroscopy enabled a new generation of imaging diagnostics and interventions during the 20th Century that revolutionised medicine. Improvements in health, therapeutics, life expectancy and patient expectations mean that in the 21st century, as the use of X-ray CT has replaced many of the roles of X-ray fluoroscopy based tests, concern has increased regarding the adverse effects of radiation exposure. The obvious alternative, providing the flexibility and versatility required, is magnetic resonance imaging but it remains unclear whether MRI will rise to the challenges or if the technology will be sufficiently competitive with volumetric CT."

Source
The Royal College of Radiologists