AJR Podcasts

COVID 19 has been shown to affect a variety of organ systems. In this podcast, Ben Kipper, MD examines the association between stroke subtypes and COVID-19 as well as the effect that association may have on clinicians and radiologists. Article: https://www.ajronline.org/doi/abs/10.2214/AJR.20.23847

On this episode, Alicia Chen, MD takes a closer look at a very timely new AJR article titled, "Lung US Findings in Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) Patients" by Yao Zhang and colleagues from Beijing Ditan Hospital and Peking University Third Hospital. Compared to CT, ultrasound is portable, less costly, and does not use radiation. These characteristics suggest ultrasound could be particularly useful tool for triage, particularly in the pre-hospital/outpatient setting, and severity stratification and monitoring, particularly of critically ill patients who may be challenging to transport and require careful ventilation management. This study demonstrates that lung ultrasound has a high sensitivity for COVID-19 pneumonia in moderate and severe disease and that sonographic findings can suggest infection length and severity. Ultrasound is a promising adjunct modality for COVID-19 management. Full article: https://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.20.23513

In this episode, Yoon-Jin Kim, MD, discusses a study evaluating factors associated with background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) on contrast-enhanced mammography. The findings are important as BPE impacts study interpretation and high BPE may be an independent breast cancer risk factor. The study findings are valuable for physicians currently interpreting this emerging breast imaging modality and those considering integrating it into their own clinical practice. Full article: https://www.ajronline.org/doi/abs/10.2214/AJR.19.22353

Metabolic syndrome is typically thought of as a clinical disease. In this podcast, Shrey Patel explores reevaluating the role of imaging in identifying and potentially diagnosing patients at risk for metabolic syndrome by using CT biomarkers.

Shravan Sridhar, MD, MS discusses his study in AJR that provides a retrospective review of patients with abnormal renal uptake Technicium 99m MDP bone scans in which the causes of abnormal renal uptake, imaging follow up, and interventions are assessed. The study identifies several different conditions responsible for abnormal uptake, ranging in levels of clinical significance and degree of actionability. This study underscores the importance of careful assessment of the kidneys on whole body bone scan.

Compared to other guidelines, ACR TI-RADS results in a decreased number of thyroid nodules which are either followed or given a recommendation of fine needle aspiration (FNA). Find out on this podcast hosted by Amber Liles, MD, MPH, what thyroid malignancies are missed and why and how changes in size thresholds might affect ACR TI-RADS performance and outcomes. For more on this read the new AJR article "Analysis of Malignant Thyroid Nodules That Do Not Meet American College Of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System Criteria for Fine Needle Aspiration" https://www.ajronline.org/doi/abs/10.2214/AJR.20.23123

Although the clinical symptoms of pediatric COVID-19 pneumonia may be non-specific, some characteristic imaging findings have emerged or are currently emerging. This presentation focuses on chest imaging in pediatric patients with COVID-19 infection including characteristic chest imaging findings and imaging recommendations. After listening to this podcast, participants will have up-to-date knowledge on imaging findings and optimal imaging management of pediatric patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. For more on this, read Alexandra Foust and Edward Y. Lee's article in AJR: https://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.20.23267

Vaping associated lung injury exploded into a public health crisis in 2019 in the United States and the introduction of a new term into the medical lexicon – EVALI. This episode briefly explores the history of vaping, the authors' experiences that led to this manuscript, and an update on what has changed since we first went to publication. For more on this, read Travis Henry's article in the March issue of AJR: https://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.19.22251

Lymph node staging in patients with invasive breast cancer and preoperative imaging of the axilla plays are essential for preoperative staging. Unlike many other areas of the body, it is the node morphology rather than size that is most revealing. Ultrasound not only allows visualization of nodes but also enables image guided biopsy. Accurate identification of axillary adenopathy can prevent unnecessary sentinel lymph node biopsy. In this episode, Wei T. Yang reviews various imaging techniques and features for optimal management. For more on this topic, read this article from February's issue of AJR: https://www.ajronline.org/doi/abs/10.2214/AJR.19.22022

As healthcare moves into a new era of increasing information vulnerability, radiologists should understand that they may be using systems exposed to altered data or data that contains malicious elements. This podcast explains the vulnerabilities of DICOM images and discusses requirements to properly secure these images from cyberattacks. For more on this topic, read Benoit Desjardins' article from the January issue of AJR. https://www.ajronline.org/doi/abs/10.2214/AJR.19.21958