Exploring the Potential Use of Supplementary E-learning Tools for Integrated Anatomy-Radiology Teaching

@#The evolution of anatomy education yields a variety of instructional strategies to enhance students’ comprehension of gross anatomy. Apart from these multi-modality approaches, various studies suggest that anatomy instruction is more effective when it is taught with radiological integration during the early phase of the medical curriculum. Studies have shown that the introduction of basic radiological knowledge in anatomy learning enhances visuospatial skills, which are important for safe clinical practice. Nevertheless, considerable variation in the radiological anatomy teaching exists in terms of delivery methods, radiological materials, and teaching time. One way to address these limitations is by using integrated radiology anatomy e-learning platforms. Recent advancements in technology have given rise to immense attention to e-learning platforms, which have been considered to be an effective modality in optimising the student learning process. Hence, this article explores the potential use of e-learning tools, namely integrated with radiological imaging, in teaching gross anatomy.

Causes of acute abdomen, preferred imaging methods, and prognoses in geriatric patients presenting to the emergency department with abdominal pain

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons for admission to the emergency department in the geriatric population. The aim of this study was to investigate the diseases frequently detected in elderly patients diagnosed with acute abdomen in the emergency department, the imaging methods used in the diagnostic processes of these diseases, and the prognosis of the patients. METHODS: In all, 175 patients who visited the emergency department due to abdominal pain and were hospitalized with a diagnosis of acute abdomen were evaluated. The patients were categorized into seven groups according to their diagnosis as biliary diseases, pancreatitis, appendicitis, gastrointestinal system perforation, ileus, mesenteric ischemia, and atypical causes. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 76.3±7.7 years (range 65-93), and 96 (54.9%) were women. The most common causes of acute abdomen were biliary diseases and pancreatitis. Ultrasonography (88.6%) was the most frequently preferred imaging method in the emergency department, and it was most frequently used for biliary diseases. Notably, 20 (11.4%) patients were treated in the intensive care unit, and 9 (5.1%) patients died. CONCLUSION: The most common causes of acute abdomen in the geriatric population were biliary diseases and pancreatitis, and ultrasonography imaging was the most common choice for the diagnosis of these diseases. In elderly patients with abdominal pain, rapid and accurate diagnosis and selection of the correct imaging method are extremely important.

Our experience with Radio - Pathological diagnosis of liver lesions in a tertiary health care centre.

Introduction: The diagnosis of space occupying lesions of liver is always a challenge especially when the lesions are multifocal in location. Imaging modalities, serum markers and pathological investigations will definitely help in arriving at a specific diagnosis for appropriate patient management and prognosis. Aim: The aim of the current study is to know the importance of various imaging modalities in diagnosing the space occupying lesions of liver and to find an association of Radiological with Pathological diagnosis and serum markers. Materials and methods: This retrospective study was performed over period of one year. Clinically suspicious cases for malignancy were assessed by the imaging modalities such as Ultrasonography (USG), Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI). Further Radiologically confirmed cases were subjected for Fine needle aspiration (FNA)/biopsy under the USG guidance, while serum markers were retrieved from laboratory investigation archives. Association of Radiological and Pathological diagnosis with serum markers was performed and analyzed. Results: The study was conducted on 70 cases of hepatic lesion. Male to female ratio was 1.5:1 with mean age of 54.47±1.5. Most of cases were diagnosed with MDCT scan. About 95.7% cases were malignancy of which 13.4% were HCC. Among malignant cases, metastatic lesions were more prevalent which were mostly adenocarcinoma. Radiological and pathological diagnosis found to have significant association, only few cases showed the discrepancies. Serum AFP was found to have high levels in 7 cases of HCC, while other 2 HCC cases and metastatic lesions were within normal range. Conclusion: The diagnostic accuracy of hepatic lesion enhances with utility of radiological patterns in conjunction with pathological diagnosis and serum markers. Association of radiological and pathological findings found to have statically significant value in the current study.

Progress in the diagnosis and treatment of spinal cord injury without radiologic abnormality in children / 中国小儿急救医学

Spinal cord injury without radiologic abnormality (SCIWORA) is more common in children than adults.The reason is that the spinal cord is much more compliant than the spinal cord in children.Under trauma, the elastic changes of accommodating spine exceed the elastic limit of spinal cord, which is manifested as a stretch injury of spinal cord and its secondary pathological changes.The range of symptoms is wide and the clinical manifestations are complex and diverse.MRI is the key to diagnosing suspected cases.The treatment plan is related to the severity and characteristics of spinal cord injury.The acute phase of complete spinal cord injury requires necessary respiratory, circulatory, nutritional assessment and supportive treatment.High-dose corticosteroid therapy is not currently recommended.

Towards precision medicine: from quantitative imaging to radiomics / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Radiology (imaging) and imaging-guided interventions, which provide multi-parametric morphologic and functional information, are playing an increasingly significant role in precision medicine. Radiologists are trained to understand the imaging phenotypes, transcribe those observations (phenotypes) to correlate with underlying diseases and to characterize the images. However, in order to understand and characterize the molecular phenotype (to obtain genomic information) of solid heterogeneous tumours, the advanced sequencing of those tissues using biopsy is required. Thus, radiologists image the tissues from various views and angles in order to have the complete image phenotypes, thereby acquiring a huge amount of data. Deriving meaningful details from all these radiological data becomes challenging and raises the big data issues. Therefore, interest in the application of radiomics has been growing in recent years as it has the potential to provide significant interpretive and predictive information for decision support. Radiomics is a combination of conventional computer-aided diagnosis, deep learning methods, and human skills, and thus can be used for quantitative characterization of tumour phenotypes. This paper discusses the overview of radiomics workflow, the results of various radiomics-based studies conducted using various radiological images such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron-emission tomography (PET), the challenges we are facing, and the potential contribution of radiomics towards precision medicine.

Radiology Residents' Awareness about Ionizing Radiation Doses in Imaging Studies and Their Cancer Risk during Radiological Examinations

OBJECTIVE: Imaging methods that use ionizing radiation have been more frequent in various medical fields with advances in imaging technology. The aim of our study was to make residents be aware of the radiation dose they are subjected to when they conduct radiological imaging methods, and of cancer risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 364 residents participated in this descriptive study which was conducted during the period between October, 2008 and January, 2009. The questionnaires were completed under strict control on a one-to-one basis from each department. A chi2-test was used for the evaluation of data obtained. RESULTS: Only 7% of residents correctly answered to the question about the ionizing radiation dose of a posteroanterior (PA) chest X-ray. The question asking about the equivalent number of PA chest X-rays to the ionizing dose of a brain CT was answered correctly by 24% of residents; the same question regarding abdominal CT was answered correctly by 16% of residents, thorax CT by 16%, thyroid scintigraphy by 15%, intravenous pyelography by 9%, and lumbar spine radiography by 2%. The risk of developing a cancer throughout lifetime by a brain and abdominal CT were 33% and 28%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Radiologic residents should have updated knowledge about radiation dose content and attendant cancer risks of various radiological imaging methods during both basic medical training period and following practice period.