Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, Mammograms / 25.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53229" align="alignleft" width="124"]Xabier Garcia-De-Albeniz MD PhD Research Associate Department of Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Mongan Institute for Health Policy Massachusetts General Hospital Dr. Garcia-De-Albeniz[/caption] Xabier Garcia-De-Albeniz MD PhD Research Associate Department of Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Mongan Institute for Health Policy Massachusetts General Hospital  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The goal of breast cancer screening is to reduce deaths from breast cancer by finding breast cancer at early, more treatable stages. The main way to screen for breast cancer is periodic mammography, which is an x-ray of the breast that can show tumors before they are large enough to feel. High-quality studies called clinical trials have shown that screening women in their 50s and 60s decreases breast cancer deaths. However, the point at which women can safely stop screening because it no longer decreases breast cancer deaths has not been studied. More than half of women in the United States continue screening mammography after age 75 years. 
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, CT Scanning, Lung Cancer / 04.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53081" align="alignleft" width="200"]Carlijn M. van der Aalst, Ph.D. MPH Department of Public Health Erasmus MC Dr. van der Aalst[/caption] Carlijn M. van der Aalst, Ph.D. MPH Department of Public Health Erasmus MC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among both men and women. About 70% of patients with lung cancer are diagnosed with advanced disease, which results in only 15% surviving five years. About 70% of patients with lung cancer are diagnosed with advanced disease, a stage in which cure is problematic. This results in only 15% surviving five years. Although quit smoking is most effective in preventing lung cancer, about half of all lung cancers are currently diagnosed in former smokers, who remain at high risk for decades after quitting smoking. The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST; U.S.) reported a 20% lung cancer-related mortality reduction and a 6.7% reduction in all-cause mortality for CT screening compared with chest radiography screening for lung cancer in 53,454 enrolled subjects at high risk for lung cancer.1 As a consequence, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) requested an independent review and a modelling study. Based on these NLST data, an efficient strategy with a reasonable harm-benefit ratio could be established, resulting in the recommendation to annually screen persons aged 55-80 with ≥30 pack-years of smoking history, who currently smoke or quit smoking <15 years ago. However, data of only one trial provides limited evidence and more trial data are needed. NELSON is the second largest lung cancer screening trial that is adequately designed to provide the evidence that is needed to conclude whether CT screening can reduce lung cancer mortality.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Medical Imaging, UCSF / 06.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52640" align="alignleft" width="180"]William G. Mantyh, MD Clinical Fellow, UCSF Memory and Aging Center Weill Institute for Neurosciences UCSF Dr. Mantyh[/caption] William G. Mantyh, MD Clinical Fellow, UCSF Memory and Aging Center Weill Institute for Neurosciences UCSF MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Similar to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementing illnesses, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition associated with abnormally folded tau protein in the brain. CTE is thought to be caused by exposure to repetitive head trauma, and recently has been the subject of intense media coverage given the frequency of CTE found in brains of deceased former American professional football players. CTE is almost impossible to confidently diagnose during life as the symptoms are diverse and vary from patient-to-patient. Symptoms can include impairments in memory, multi-tasking, behavioral/mood regulation, and movement. As there are no blood, imaging, or other tests for this disease, one active area of research is developing a test to help doctors diagnose this condition. As tau tangles in CTE are similar in many respects to those in Alzheimer’s disease, there was hope that PET tracers that detect tau in AD might also work in CTE. Flortaucipir (FTP) is probably the most widely used tau tracer in AD. Recent work has reported some signal from FTP-PET in symptomatic former NFL players and other patients at risk for CTE (Stern et al. New Engl Jour Med 2019; Lesman-Segev et al. Neuroimage Clinical 2019). The overall signal was lower than that observed in Alzheimer’s disease, and, in lieu of correlations with post-mortem findings, it was unclear how well FTP binds to tau pathology in CTE.
Abuse and Neglect, Alzheimer's - Dementia, Autism, Medical Imaging, Mental Health Research, MRI, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurology, Technology / 23.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52575" align="alignleft" width="156"]Sebastian Magda, Ph.D Director of Science & Engineering CorTechs Labs, Inc Dr. Sebastian Magda[/caption] Sebastian Magda, Ph.D Director of Science & Engineering CorTechs Labs, Inc MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous studies have shown that the changes of brain structure volume and/or metabolic activity are associated with various neurological diseases. We have created an artificial intelligence clinical decision support tool based on brain volumetric and PET metabolic activity measurements as well as other clinical measurements.
Aging, Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, MRI, Technology / 23.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52568" align="alignleft" width="200"]Dr. Weidong Luo Principal Scientist CorTechs Labs Dr. Weidong Luo[/caption] Dr. Weidong Luo Principal Scientist CorTechs Labs  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We were interested in whether or not we can predict the age of the brain accurately from T1 weighted MRI and/or fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET scans using the brain volumetric and the relative metabolic activity. The uptake of FDG is a clinical marker used to measure the uptake of glucose and therefore metabolism. Also, we were interested in the patterns of the predicted ages for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and minor cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects when using their brain measurements for age prediction in the normal brain age model.  
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Mammograms / 19.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52515" align="alignleft" width="60"]Nancy R. Kressin, PhD VA Medical Center, Jamaica Plain Campus Boston, MA  Dr. Kressin[/caption] Nancy R. Kressin, PhD VA Medical Center, Jamaica Plain Campus Boston, MA   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: State-level legislation requires informing women about breast density (BD) with mammogram results, to increase awareness of BD’s tendency to mask cancers on mammography, its association with increased breast cancer risk, and to encourage women to discuss personal risk and supplemental screening with physicians. The Food and Drug Administration is currently developing dense breast notification (DBN) language for use nationwide; information about effects of state DBNs could be informative for FDA’s language.
Author Interviews, Medical Imaging, Technology / 11.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. David Steiner, MD PhD Google Health, USA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Advances in artificial intelligence raise promising opportunities for improved interpretation of chest X-rays and many other types of medical images. However, even before researchers begin to address the critical question of clinical validation, there is important work to be done establishing strategies for evaluating and comparing different artificial intelligence algorithms. One challenge is defining and collecting the correct clinical interpretation or “label” for the large number of chest X-rays needed to train and evaluate these algorithms. Another important challenge is evaluating the algorithm on a dataset that actually represents the diversity of the cases encountered in clinical practice. For example, it might be relatively easy to make an algorithm that performs perfectly on a few hundred or so “easy” cases, but this of course might not be particularly useful in practice.
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Mammograms / 06.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52282" align="alignleft" width="144"]Sarah Moorman, MD  Department of Radiology  Michigan Medicine   Dr. Moorman[/caption] Sarah Moorman, MD Department of Radiology Michigan Medicine   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Professional societies and government agencies have variable recommendations regarding how often women should get a screening mammogram. Breast cancer screening may be recommended annually or biennially. These differing recommendations lead to confusion for both referring physicians and patients. The goal of our study was to better understand differences between annual and biennial screening. We reviewed clinical outcomes of women undergoing annual or biennial mammographic screening to determine if there is an advantage to annual screening.
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, JAMA, Mammograms / 15.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52174" align="alignleft" width="300"]Mammograms showing a normal breast (left) and a breast with cancer (right, white arrows). Wikipedia Image Mammograms showing a normal breast (left) and a breast with cancer (right, white arrows). Wikipedia Image[/caption] Dr. Elham Kharazmi, MD, PhD Co-Leader, Risk Adapted Prevention (RAD) Group Division of Preventive Oncology National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Germany MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer death in American women, exceeded only by lung cancer. Available evidence suggests that implementation of a screening program can decrease breast cancer mortality. Reductions in breast cancer mortality in Europe over the past two decades have been associated at least in part with the implementation of screening programs. Screening enables the detection of tumors at an early stage, when more treatment options are feasible and most effective. However, screening is associated with substantial risks, such as over-diagnosis, false-positive results, and physical and psychological harms, particularly when large numbers of women with low risk are frequently screened.
Author Interviews, CT Scanning, JAMA, Lung Cancer, UCSF / 23.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51556" align="alignleft" width="150"]Joshua Demb, PhD, MPH Postdoctoral Scholar, Moores Cancer Center University of California, San Diego Health Science Research Specialist Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System Dr. Demb[/caption] Joshua Demb, PhD, MPH Postdoctoral Scholar, Moores Cancer Center University of California, San Diego Health Science Research Specialist Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Our study leveraged radiation dose data from 72 facilities performing CT scans around the United States to learn more about the radiation dose used for lung cancer screening scans, as well as possible institutional predictors that might be associated with higher dose.  Currently, the American College of Radiology has recommendations for how these low-dose lung cancer screening scans should be performed. However, it is unclear how much adherence there currently is to these guidelines. Our findings indicated that there is wide variation in the distribution of radiation doses for low-dose lung cancer screening scans both within- and between facilities in our sample—in some cases this variation led to doses higher than the ACR recommendations.  
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, MRI, Prostate Cancer, UCLA / 12.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51263" align="alignleft" width="150"]Rajiv Jayadevan, MD Department of Urology UCLA Dr. Jayadevan[/caption] Rajiv Jayadevan, MD and  Leonard S. Marks, MD Department of Urology UCLA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Men with low risk prostate cancer often enter “active surveillance” programs. These programs allow patients to defer definitive treatment (and avoid their associated side effects) until more aggressive disease is detected, if at all. Patients typically undergo a “confirmatory biopsy” 6 to 12 months after diagnosis to verify that their disease is low risk, and then undergo repeat biopsies every 1 to 2 years. These biopsies have traditionally been performed under the guidance of transrectal ultrasonography. Transrectal ultrasonography is unable to accurately visualize tumors within the prostate, necessitating that biopsy cores be obtained systematically from all parts of the prostate. MRI-ultrasonography fusion biopsy is a newer technology that has been shown to characterize biopsy findings more accurately than transrectal ultrasonography, leading to improved disease detection. This technology also allows us to visualize tumors within the prostate, and directly target these tumors during a biopsy session.
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Medical Imaging, UCSF / 05.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51136" align="alignleft" width="150"]Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD Professor, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies University of California, San Francisco Dr. Smith-Bindman[/caption] Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD Professor, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies University of California, San Francisco MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Medical imaging increased rapidly from 2000 to 2006. The rise in imaging can be attributed to improvements in technical aspects of imaging, strong physician and patient demand, and strong financial incentives. While imaging contributes to accurate disease diagnosis and improved treatment, imaging can also increase costs and patient harms, such as incidental findings, overdiagnosis, anxiety, and radiation exposure associated with increased risk of cancer. Potential overuse of diagnostic testing has been addressed by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation’s Choosing Wisely Campaign and initiatives by payers to reduce imaging through payment reductions, but there remains uncertainty in the impact of these initiatives on imaging rates.The objective of our study was to evaluate recent trends in medical imaging. Our study assessed imaging from 2000 through 2016 among individuals enrolled in diverse U.S. integrated healthcare systems and among individuals residing in Ontario, Canada and assessed changes in medical imaging utilization over time by country, health system, and patient demographic factors.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, MRI, Prostate Cancer / 07.08.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Martha Elwenspoek PhD Research Associate in Epidemiology and Health Services Research NIHR CLAHRC West, Bristol MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men. Prostate cancer is usually diagnosed by taking 10 to 14 systematic samples from the prostate guided by ultrasound. However, these biopsies are unpleasant for patients, can miss cancer even when it’s present, can misclassify the severity of the cancer, and can cause side effects, such as bleeding and infection. If biopsies could be targeted better, men wouldn’t have to undergo so many and there would be less risk of getting a misleading result. Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) scans are sometimes used before doing a biopsy to help diagnose prostate cancer, and while this approach is now being recommended by the UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) their use isn’t widespread.
AACR, Author Interviews, CT Scanning, Lung Cancer / 28.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49973" align="alignleft" width="163"]Barbara Nemesure, PhD  Professor, Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine Division Head, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Director, Cancer Prevention and Control Program Director, Lung Cancer Program, Stony Brook Cancer Center Renaissance School of Medicine Stony Brook University   Dr. Nemesure[/caption] Barbara Nemesure, PhD Professor, Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine Division Head, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Director, Cancer Prevention and Control Program Director, Lung Cancer Program, Stony Brook Cancer Center Renaissance School of Medicine Stony Brook University    MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death, claiming the lives of more than 150,000 people in the United States each year. While lung nodules are not uncommon, it has remained a challenge to differentiate those that will progress to cancer and those that will remain benign. Although numerous risk prediction models for lung cancer have been developed over the past 2 decades, the majority have been based on retrospective analyses or high risk groups with a strong history of tobacco use. To date, there have been a limited number of large-scale, prospective studies evaluating risk that a nodule will convert to cancer in the general population. This investigation aimed to construct a population-based risk prediction model of incident lung cancer for patients found to have a lung nodule on initial CT scan. The derived model was determined to have high accuracy for predicting nodule progression to cancer and identified a combination of clinical and radiologic predictors including age, smoking history (pack-years), a personal history of cancer, the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and nodule features such as size, presence of spiculation and ground glass opacity type. When compared to patients in the low risk category, those defined as high risk had more than 14 times the risk of developing lung cancer. Quantification of reliable risk scores has high clinical utility, enabling physicians to better stratify treatment plans for their patients.     
Author Interviews, CT Scanning, JAMA, Surgical Research, Technology / 21.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49894" align="alignleft" width="200"]Christian Krautz, MD Department of Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen Nürnberg Erlangen, Germany Dr. Krautz[/caption] Christian Krautz, MD Department of Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen Nürnberg Erlangen, Germany  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In this preclinical study that included 720 case evaluations, visualization with Cinematic Rendering allowed a more correct and faster comprehension of the surgical anatomy compared to conventional CT imaging independent from the level of surgical experience. Therefore,Cinematic Rendering is a tool that may assist HPB surgeons with preoperative preparation and intraoperative guidance through an improved interpretation of computed tomography imaging data.
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Heart Disease, JAMA, Medical Imaging / 17.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49804" align="alignleft" width="142"]Quinn R Pack, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of Massachusetts Medical School - Baystate Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine Tufts University School of Medicine Dr. Pack[/caption] Quinn R Pack, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine University of Massachusetts Medical School - Baystate Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine Tufts University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Because echocardiograms are non-invasive, very low risk, and nearly universally available, it is easy to over-use this technique.  In myocardial infarction, echo is also recommended in guidelines. However, in our lab, we frequently find echocardiograms that are ordered purely out of routine, without any thought as to the likelihood of finding an abnormality.   Prior studies also suggested that as many as 70% of echocardiograms provide no additional diagnostic value. When spread across the approximate 600,000 patients in the United States each year, this low diagnostic yield represents an opportunity to reduce costs by reducing echocardiograms. 
Author Interviews, Emergency Care, JAMA, Medical Imaging, Pediatrics / 04.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49477" align="alignleft" width="200"]Eyal Cohen, MD, M.Sc, FRCP(C)Professor, PediatricsUniversity of TorontoCo-Founder, Complex Care ProgramThe Hospital for Sick Children Dr. Cohen[/caption] Eyal Cohen, MD, M.Sc, FRCP(C) Professor, Pediatrics University of Toronto Co-Founder, Complex Care Program The Hospital for Sick Children   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Minimizing care that provides little benefit to patients has become an important focus to decrease health care costs and improve the quality of care delivery.  Diagnostic imaging in children is a common focus for campaigns designed to reduce overuse both in Canada and the US. There are some suggestions that there may be more overuse of care in the United States than Canada, but there has been little study in children. We compared the use of low-value diagnostic imaging rates from four pediatric emergency departments in Ontario to 26 in the United States from 2006 to 2016.  We defined low-value imaging as situations where children are discharged from an emergency department with a diagnosis for which routine use of diagnostic imaging may not be necessary, like asthma or constipation. 
Author Interviews, Medical Imaging, Mental Health Research, UCSD / 13.05.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49143" align="alignleft" width="150"]Dr. Mingxiong Huang, PhDProfessor, Electrical and Computer EngineeringUniversity of California, San Diego Dr. Huang[/caption] Dr. Mingxiong Huang, PhD Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering University of California, San Diego MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Combat-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a leading cause of sustained impairments in military service members and Veterans. Yet, conventional neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are typically insensitive to physiological alterations caused by mild and some moderate TBIs. With funding from the VA, we have pursued in developing sensitive imaging markers based on magnetoencephalography (MEG) for mTBI. This paper reflects the news MEG findings in this research field. 
Author Interviews, BMJ, CT Scanning, Lung Cancer, University of Pittsburgh / 14.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47955" align="alignleft" width="200"]Panayiotis (Takis) Benos, Ph.D.Professor and Vice Chair for Academic AffairsDepartment of Computational and Systems BiologyAssociate Director, Integrative Systems Biology ProgramDepartment of Computational and Systems Biology, SOM andDepartments of Biomedical Informatics and Computer ScienceUniversity of Pittsburgh Dr. Benos[/caption] Panayiotis (Takis) Benos, Ph.D. Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs Department of Computational and Systems Biology Associate Director, Integrative Systems Biology Program Department of Computational and Systems Biology, SOM and Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Computer Science University of Pittsburgh    MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans is the main method used for early lung cancer diagnosis.  Early lung cancer diagnosis significantly reduces mortality.  LDCT scans identify nodules in the lungs of 24% of the people in the high-risk population, but 96% of these nodules are benign.  Currently there is no accurate way to discriminate benign from malignant nodules and hence all people with identified nodules are subjected to follow up screens or biopsies.  This increases healthcare costs and creates more anxiety for these individuals.  By analyzing a compendium of low-dose computed tomography scan data together with demographics and other clinical variables we were able to develop a predictor that offers a promising solution to this problem. 
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, CT Scanning, JAMA, Lung Cancer, Medical Imaging / 01.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47730" align="alignleft" width="200"]Martin C. Tammemägi   PhDSenior Scientist | Cancer Care Ontario | Prevention & Cancer Control | Scientific Lead | Lung Cancer Screening Pilot for People at High RiskProfessor (Epidemiology) | Brock University | Department of Health SciencesOntario  Canada Dr. Tammemägi[/caption] Martin C. Tammemägi PhD Senior Scientist Cancer Care Ontario | Prevention & Cancer Control Scientific Lead Lung Cancer Screening Pilot for People at High Risk Professor (Epidemiology) | Brock University Department of Health Sciences Ontario, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Some prediction models can accurately predict lung cancer risk (probability of developing lung cancer during a specified time). Good model predictors include sociodemographic, medical and exposure variables. In recent years, low dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screening has become widespread in trials, pilots, demonstration studies, and public health practice. It appears that screening results provides added valuable, independent predictive information regarding future lung cancer risk, aside from the lung cancers directly detected from the diagnostic investigations resulting from positive screens.
Author Interviews, MRI, Prostate Cancer, Technology / 12.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47464" align="alignleft" width="130"]Gaurav Pandey, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences Icahn Institute of Data Science and Genomic Technology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York  Dr. Pandey[/caption] Gaurav Pandey, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences Icahn Institute of Data Science and Genomic Technology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) has become increasingly important for the clinical assessment of prostate cancer (PCa), most routinely through PI-RADS v2, but its interpretation is generally variable due to its relatively subjective nature. Radiomics, a methodology that can analyze a large number of features of images that are difficult to study solely by visual assessment, combined with machine learning methods have shown potential for improving the accuracy and objectivity of mpMRI-based prostate cancer assessment. However, previous studies in this direction are generally limited to a small number of classification methods, evaluation using the AUC score only, and a non-rigorous assessment of all possible combinations of radiomics and machine learning methods.
Author Interviews, JAMA, MRI, Rheumatology / 07.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47400" align="alignleft" width="133"]Signe Møller-Bisgaard MD, PhD Rigshospitalet Center for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases Copenhagen Center for Arthritis Research  Dr. Møller-Bisgaard[/caption] Signe Møller-Bisgaard MD, PhD Rigshospitalet Center for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases Copenhagen Center for Arthritis Research  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: The background was that to avoid long-term consequences of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) such as progressive joint damage progression leading to functional impairment and loss of quality of life, it is essential for patients with RA to achieve clinical remission, which is a disease state with no clinical signs and symptoms of disease activity. But despite treating our patients according to current clinical recommendations using targeted treatment strategies, so that the patients reach a state of remission, joint damage progression still occurs in one out of four patients. We knew, that MRI inflammatory findings such as synovitis and bone marrow edema are present in patients in clinical remission and are of prognostic value. In particular bone marrow edema has shown to be a strong predictor of erosive joint damage progression. In the IMAGINE-RA randomized clinical trial we therefore wanted to investigate if an MRI treat-to-target strategy targeting absence of bone marrow edema versus a conventional disease activity-guided treat-to-target strategy would improve clinical and radiographic outcome in rheumatoid arthritis patients in clinical remission. 
Author Interviews, Mammograms / 06.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Kiki Gets a Mammogram" by kristiewells is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0Philippe Henrot, MD Radiology Department Institut de Cancerologie de Lorraine Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The initial observation was that daily practice of mammography shows a substantial proportion of women that report a negative experience after having a mammogram. Compression of the breast before delivering X-rays is mandatory to achieve the best image quality and to detect small cancers. Unfortunately, compression is uncomfortable, even sometimes painful. We took into consideration a study of PJ Kornguth et al. published in 1993 reporting the self-compression technique. In this study one breast was compressed by the radiographer and the other with self-compression. The author reported a high level of patient satisfaction, and a lower discomfort, without compromising image quality. We performed a multicenter prospective randomized trial to demonstrate the feasibility of the self-compression technique in condition similar to routine screening or follow-up, compared with standard compression. The primary outcome was to demonstrate that self-compression did not lead to compress the breast less than standard compression, and that was done. The secondary outcomes were to evaluate pain, compression force and image quality. The results indicated that compression force was higher when the women controlled themselves the compression of their breast, and the pain measured on a visual analogue scale was lower. Moreover, image quality was not compromised compared with standard compression. 
Author Interviews, Dermatology, MRI, NEJM / 06.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

[caption id="attachment_47332" align="alignleft" width="200"]Dr. Martina Callaghan PhD Head of Physics & Senior Lecturer Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging Institute of Neurology University College London London   Dr. Callaghan[/caption]

Dr. Martina Callaghan PhD Head of Physics & Senior Lecturer Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging Institute of Neurology University College London London

MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Response: As mirrors the situation in the general population, we found that an increasing number of volunteers who were seeking to enter cognitive neuroscience studies at our Centre had tattoos. However, the magnetic fields used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pose a potential safety risk for people with tattoos. A number of case reports have described such incidents.  However, as these describe isolated cases retrospectively, there was not enough information to objectively assess the risk of tattoo-related adverse reactions for persons having an MRI scan.  Therefore, in 2011, we decided to embark upon this first prospective study to quantitatively assess this risk.

Author Interviews, FDA, JAMA, Medical Imaging / 04.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Aldo Badano, Ph.D. Deputy Director, Division of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories Center for Devices and Radiological Health Silver Spring, MD 20993 Aldo Badano, Ph.D. Deputy Director, Division of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories Center for Devices and Radiological Health Silver Spring, MD 20993  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Expensive and lengthy clinical trials can delay regulatory evaluation of innovative technologies, affecting patient access to high-quality medical products. Although computational modeling is increasingly being used in product development, it is rarely at the center of regulatory applications. Within this context, the VICTRE project attempted to replicate a previously conducted imaging clinical trial using only computational models. The VICTRE trial involved no human subjects and no clinicians. All trial steps were conducted in silico. The fundamental question the article addresses is whether in silico imaging trials are at a mature development stage to play a significant role in the regulatory evaluation of new medical imaging systems. The VICTRE trial consisted of in silico imaging of 2986 virtual patients comparing digital mammography (DM) and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) systems. The improved lesion detection performance favoring DBT for all breast sizes and lesion types was consistent with results from a comparative trial using human patients and radiologists. 
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Mammograms / 03.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Stamatia Destounis MD, FACR, FSBI, FAIUM Elizabeth Wende Breast Care Clinical Professor University of Rochester Imaging Sciences Rochester, NY 14620  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response:  The current breast cancer screening recommendations in the United States are unclear regarding when to stop screening. Several societies with published recommendations conflict in regard to when to discontinue screeningmammography. There is little evidence studying the benefit of annual mammography in the population of women 75 and older. Due to this, we felt that it was a very important and timely topic to investigate, with the goal of providing further guidance on why screening mammography may be beneficial in this older population.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, MRI / 29.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46187" align="alignleft" width="145"]Cyrus A. Raji, MD PhD Asst Prof of Radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology Neuroradiology Faculty and the Neuoimaging Laboratories  Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis Dr. Raji[/caption] Cyrus A. Raji, MD PhD Asst Prof of Radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology Neuroradiology Faculty and the Neuoimaging Laboratories Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia and every patient suspected of having this disorder receives an MRI scan of the brain. MRI scans of the brain in dementia are currently limited to evaluating for structural lesions that could be leading to memory loss such as stroke or tumor. What this study sought to accomplish was to determine if a newer type of MRI scan called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can predict who will experience cognitive decline and dementia. We found that DTI can predict persons who will demented 2.6 years before the earliest onset of symptoms. This study was done in 61 individuals, 30 converters and 31 non-converters, from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and we found that DTI metrics could predict dementia 2.6 years later with 89-95% accuracy.
Author Interviews, CT Scanning, Pain Research / 28.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46235" align="alignleft" width="300"]Probe being applied to nerve root. Credit: Radiological Society of North America Probe being applied to nerve root.
Credit: Radiological Society of North America[/caption] Alessandro Napoli MD PhD Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Sciences Sapienza University of Rome  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Disc Herniation in the lumbar region can create intense pain in the lower back and along the leg as a result of nerve compression. People suffering disc herniation may either experience a spontaneous relief from the pain or requiring further medical actions in order to improve quality of life and going back to work and daily activities. When the pain is not responding to usual conservative care (both physical and pharmacological therapy) surgery is often considered a valid option.However, most of the people (despite the intense pain) would possibly avoid surgery. For this reason, Interventional percutaneous therapies such as intraforaminal injection of steroid have become more popular. Pulsed radiofrequency is a percutaneous therapy that may have the potential to rapidly relief the pain in a long lasting way by means of single 10 minutes procedure. We decided to undertook a randomized clinical trial to test the clinical benefit of pulsed radiofrequency therapy using intraforaminal injection as a control group. in both groups percutaneous approach was guided under precise guidance of CT images. Pulsed radiofrequency group patients experience a faster and more durable pain control during the 1 year period follow up. Incidence of retreatment or cross-over was significantly higher in the injection only group.
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, CT Scanning, Emergency Care, Lancet, Technology / 16.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Qure-ai.jpgSasank Chilamkurthy AI Scientist, Qure.ai MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Head CT scan is one of the most commonly used imaging protocols besides chest x-ray. They are used for patients with symptoms suggesting stroke, rise in intracranial pressure or head trauma. These manifest in findings like intracranial haemorrhage, midline shift or fracture. Scans with these critical findings need to be read immediately. But radiologists evaluate the scans on first-come-first-serve basis or based on stat/routine markers set by clinicians. If the scans with critical findings are somehow pushed to the top of radiologists’ work list, it could substantially decrease time to diagnosis and therefore decrease mortality and morbidity associated with stroke/head trauma.
Author Interviews, MRI, Pain Research, Rheumatology / 11.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel S. Albrecht, Ph.D. Research Fellow, Department of Radiology Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Can you briefly describe what is meant by fibromyalgia? Response: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a poorly understood chronic condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, memory deficits and attention difficulties, among other symptoms. FM affects an estimated 4 million adults in the U.S., but despite this prevalence, effective therapies for treating FM are lacking. [caption id="attachment_45185" align="aligncenter" width="400"]This combined MR/PET image highlights areas of the brain in which patients with fibromyalgia were found to have increased glial activation, compared with unaffected control volunteers. Credit: Marco Loggia, PhD, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital This combined MR/PET image highlights areas of the brain in which patients with fibromyalgia were found to have increased glial activation, compared with unaffected control volunteers.
Credit: Marco Loggia, PhD, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital[/caption] Part of the reason for the paucity of effective therapeutics is insufficient knowledge of the underlying mechanisms contributing to FM. Previous work from co-senior author of the current manuscript, Eva Kosek, MD, PhD, and collaborators at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found elevated inflammatory molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid of FM patients, which could be reflective of brain neuroinflammation in these patients. However, no study had directly assessed the presence of neuroinflammation in the brain of FM patients. Co-senior author of the study, Marco Loggia, PhD, and collaborators showed in a 2015 Brain publication that individuals with chronic low back pain (cLBP) exhibit evidence of brain neuroinflammation, specifically activation of glial cells. Our team utilized simultaneous MR/PET imaging to image brain levels of the 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO), which is widely used as a marker of glial activation due to vast upregulation of TSPO in glial cells, e.g. microglia and astrocytes, in preclinical models of inflammation and neurological disease. Dr. Loggia sought to extend these finding in cLBP to FM, hypothesizing that activation of glial cells may also be associated with FM pathology. To this end, we used the same TSPO PET tracer to image 20 FM patients and 16 healthy controls. During a conference where I was presenting preliminary results of the fibromyalgia study, Dr. Loggia met with Dr. Kosek and discovered that, across the Atlantic, her group was performing a very similar study, imaging 11 FM patients and 11 controls with the same TSPO PET compound. They decided to form a collaboration, and logistic talks began to determine the best strategy to combine and analyze the separate datasets. In addition to PET imaging with the TSPO tracer, which is suggested to reflect activated microglia and astrocytes, Dr. Kosek’s group also collected PET scans using a tracer thought to bind specifically to astrocytes rather than microglia. This tracer was used in order to discern the relative contributions of microglia and astrocytes to any observed differences in TSPO PET signal.
Thank you for visiting MedicalResearch.com Senior Editor, Marie Benz MD. For more information please email: info@MedicalResearch.com

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. Click to verify. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:
verify here.