Annual chest x-ray screening did not lower the rate of death from lung cancer compared with usual care, according to a study of more than 150,000 participants to be published Nov. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study demonstrated that chest x-ray screening is not effective and set the stage for comparing CT screening to usual care, Harold C. Sox, MD, of Dartmouth Medical School in West Lebanon, N.H., wrote in an accompanying editorial.

As we head into the final countdown to the 97th Scientific Assembly & Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), it seems that imaging occupies both the spotlight and the hot seat.

RSNA hosts its 97th Scientific Assembly & Annual Meeting, Nov. 27 to Dec.2, in Chicago. The society expects 60,000 attendees and has organized 2,400 presentations and posters and 1,800 exhibits and demonstrations.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of death in heavy smokers, yet it remains substantially underdiagnosed. There are some promising signs, however, as researchers have shown that low-dose inspiratory and expiratory CT scans obtained for lung cancer screening of men who are current and former heavy smokers can identify patients with COPD, according to a study published in the Oct. 26 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.

Sectra, the medical imaging IT company based in Linkping, Sweden, has signed a multi-year Master Research Agreement with University Hospitals in Cleveland.

President of the Radiological Society of North America, Burton P. Drayer, MD, executive vice president for risk at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, and since 1995, chair of the department of radiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, spoke with Health Imaging about this year's conference theme and varied tracks at the 97th Scientific Assembly & Annual Meeting of the RSNA, as well as the current and future directions of radiology.

More states are pondering the legislative bandwagon mandating breast ultrasound screening for women with heterogeneous or dense breasts. While lawmakers debate the merits of ultrasound screening, some breast imagers are transitioning from handheld ultrasound screening to automated ultrasound systems to image women with heterogeneous or dense breasts.

The final diagnostic form the evolving hybrid PET/MR tree will take is uncertain, but it has already begun to blossom. In fact, low-hanging clinical fruit has lured a number of major medical centers to early adoption.