Iowa Radiology Blog

Reasons to Celebrate

Each year during the week of November 8, we celebrate National Radiologic Technology week to highlight the vital role radiologic technologists (RTs) play in patient care and safety. The American Society of Radiologic Technologists chose November 8 to coincide with the anniversary of the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895. Notably, the week also includes the birthday of Marie Curie. Among other important accomplishments, Curie developed portable X-ray machines to be used in the battlefield during World War I. She not only trained 150 women—the world’s first battlefield radiologic technologists—to operate the machines, but also joined them on the battlefield to help treat wounded soldiers.

What is a spinal compression fracture?

Most often seen in patients with osteoporosis, spinal compression fractures occur when the vertebrae lack sufficient strength to support the spine. This can also happen as a result of trauma (such as a severe fall or car crash) or cancer that has spread to the bones. Actions such as lifting, slipping, falling, and even sneezing or coughing can put brittle vertebrae at risk of fracture.

Breast Cancer Risk

Breast cancer affects hundreds of thousands of women in the U.S. each year. On average, a woman has approximately a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer during her lifetime and a 1 in 38 chance of dying from it. The American Cancer Society estimates that among women in the U.S., 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 62,930 cases of carcinoma in situ will be diagnosed, and 41,760 women will die of breast cancer in 2019 alone.[1] Facts like these highlights the importance of taking steps to prevent breast cancer as well as identifying and treating breast cancers that do develop as early as possible.

Abbreviated breast MRI is a new enhanced breast cancer screening option for women with dense breast tissue and less than a 20% lifetime risk of breast cancer.

It is estimated that in the U.S., one in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer before their twentieth birthday. While survival of childhood cancer has increased dramatically in recent decades, the incidence of cancer in children has also been on the rise. Cancer remains the number one cause of death by disease among children in the U.S., resulting more childhood fatalities than any cause other than accidents. In order to change this, more research is necessary to find the causes of and more effective treatments for childhood cancer.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that 1 in 22 men and 1 in 24 women in the U.S. develops colorectal cancer at some time during their lives.[1] The National Cancer Institute expects 140,600 patients to be diagnosed with and more than 51,000 to die of cancers of the colon or rectum this year.[2]

MRI is an important imaging tool for diagnosing and assessing a wide range of medical conditions. If an MRI may be in your future, here are six basic facts you should know.

Dating back to the 1970s, the use of mammography in breast cancer screening has proven to save lives. Breast cancer screening has evolved dramatically, however, since those early days of direct-exposure film and the need for high radiation doses. Refinements in technique and technology have enabled doctors to successfully detect and treat more cancers at earlier stages, using less radiation than in the past.[1] Today, radiologists have multiple effective tools available for identifying breast cancers as early as possible to give patients the best chance of recovery.

Noticing a lump or getting a call back after your mammogram can be scary. It’s fairly common knowledge that 1 in 8 women develop breast cancer within their lifetimes.[1] However, only a small percentage of women who are called back after a mammogram are found to have breast cancer.[2] The fact is that there are a number of benign conditions that can create lumps or other features that can appear similar to cancer on mammography images. While some are associated with an increased risk of developing cancer in the future, others pose no risk to a woman’s health.

If your doctor orders a pelvic ultrasound exam, images can be captured in two different ways: transabdominally (through the abdomen) and transvaginally (through the vaginal canal). Depending on the patient and the condition being assessed, either one or both of these methods can be used.