Table of Contents
Editorial
Perspectives
Review Articles
Level 1 EBM Expedited Publication
- A Randomized Trial Comparing Balloon Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty for Vertebral Compression Fractures due to Osteoporosis
Patients with osteoporotic acute thoracic and lumbar vertebral body fractures were randomly assigned to either kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty with 12- and 24-month posttreatment fracture incidence as the primary end point. Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty had similar long-term improvement in pain and disability with comparable safety profiles and few device-related complications. Procedure duration was shorter with vertebroplasty. Kyphoplasty had fewer cement leakages and a trend toward longer fracture-free survival.
Patient Safety
Practice Perspectives
- Physician Self-Referral and Imaging Use Appropriateness: Negative Cervical Spine MRI Frequency as an Assessment Metric
Five hundred cervical spine MRI studies,half ordered by referring physicians who owned scanners and received technical fees and half by physicians who did not, were reviewed for percentage of negative results and number of concomitant shoulder MRIs performed. There were 17.3% more negative scans in the financial-interest group. Patients in this group were also more likely to undergo shoulder MRI.
Genetics Vignette
Brain
- Early Reperfusion Rates with IV tPA Are Determined by CTA Clot Characteristics
These authors evaluated CTA studies of 228 patients paying special attention to the clot features, and correlated these features with early reperfusion rates. Clot features that predicted successful early reperfusion included: shorter clot, residual flow within the clot, and distal location. Reperfusion was achieved in only 8% of patients with longer and proximal clots and in those without residual flow.
- Preoperative Prognostic Value of MRI Findings in 108 Patients with Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
MRI studies in 108 patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension were reviewed. Findings that aided in the selection of candidates for shunt placement and predicted a positive postsurgical outcome included a small callosal angle, wide temporal horns, and disproportionately enlarged subarachnoid spaces.
Interventional
Extracranial Vascular
- Detection of Carotid Artery Stenosis: A Comparison between 2 Unenhanced MRAs and Dual-Source CTA
Three different techniques were used to assess extracranial carotid artery stenosis and correlated with the results of DSA: conventional TOF MRA, black-blood MRA, and CTA. There was good correlation among all 4 techniques with CTA having the highest sensitivity/specificity followed by black-blood MRA. CTA and black-blood MRA were also better for depicting plaque features.
Head & Neck
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Screening MR Imaging Using Unenhanced Axial CISS and Coronal T2WI for Detection of Small Internal Auditory Canal Lesions
T2-weighted and CISS images were compared with thin-section postcontrast T1 sequences for the detection of small (<10 mm) internal auditory canal schwannomas in 23 patients. The authors concluded that screening noncontrast MR imaging using a combination of axial CISS and coronal T2WI sequences can detect small internal auditory canal lesions with 100% sensitivity and excellent interobserver agreement.
