Neutropenic Colitis (Typhlitis)
History: 50 year old female with right lower quadrant pain. Typhlitis is a necrotizing process of the cecum, occurring in neutropenic patients who are usually receiving combined chemotherapy. The atonic cecum is affected because of its poor arterial perfusion, the presence of colonic bacteria, and the milieu of immunosuppression. Other terms that have been used […]
X-Ray Art – Hugh Turvey, X-Ray Artist
X-ray art is a fusion of visible light and x-rays to create what has been called a “xogram,” a term coined by British photographer and artist Hugh Turvey. He has a fascinating and beautiful portfolio of images, of which you can find a sample from National Geographic. A couple of my favorites are below.
Perforated Appendicitis MRI
History: 16 year old with abdominal pain This is a case of perforated appendicitis. Appendicitis usually occurs due to obstruction of the appendix at its origin from the cecum, in this case due to an appendicolith. This causes build up of secretions and mucus within the lumen of the appendix, which then dilates. The resultant […]
Bicornuate Uterus with Hematometrocolpos and Hydrosalpinx
History: 13 year old female with pelvic pain This is a case of a bicornuate uterus with hydrosalpinx of the right fallopian tube. Read about Imaging of Mullerian Duct Anomalies. Uterine didelphys ultrasound.
Ovarian Dermoid Cyst MRI
History: 14 year old female with right lower quadrant pain This is the appearance of an ovarian dermoid cyst on MRI, also known as a mature teratoma. The name teratoma gives a clue as to the histology of the dermoid cyst, usually containing parenchymal cell types from all three germ cell layers (mesoderm, endoderm, and […]
Differences Between the Male and Female Breast and Female Breast with Implants
I’ve found that the readers of RadiologyPics are interested in cases that highlight the differences between male and female anatomy. Well, for that matter, our whole society is obsessed with men versus women. Therefore, I decided to create this post emphasizing the differences between the male and female breast on mammography, as well as comparison […]
Children versus Adults – Who is more sensitive to radiation?
Almost all parents at some point during their children’s lives will need to take their child to the hospital for some sort of illness. Whether it is a cough, fever, broken bone, or abdominal pain, a visit to the emergency room or urgent care will include some sort of radiology study and often that radiology […]
Radiation Levels of Medical Imaging Studies
Imaging Modalities Medical imaging is a very broad area of medicine and includes many different types of imaging modalities. These include most commonly radiography (x-ray), nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, elastography, tomography, positron emitted tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT), and echocardiography. Other more advanced or exotic imaging studies include photoacoustic imaging and […]
What is Radiation?
As a pediatric radiologist I have to be constantly aware of the radiation exposure I may be giving to my patients in my daily practice. Children are more sensitive to the effects of radiation, and they have a longer life to live to experience the potential sequelae of too much radiation. But radiation is also […]
American Board of Radiology Certifying Examination – Why 15 months after residency completion?
I am currently studying for the American Board of Radiology Certifying Examination. By far this is the one standardized examination that I have studied the least for. How the board thinks newly minted radiologists can study for an exam and practice in a new job still baffles me. A few years ago the American Board […]
ABR Core Exam Recalls
The American Board of Radiology Core Examination is administered every June in Tucson and Chicago. Given that residents are likely starting to ramp up their studying efforts this time of year, I thought I should write this post on recall questions. The more time that passes, the fewer questions I will remember to post below. So without […]
Using Ionizing Radiation in Children – What do you know?
I’m curious to understand what the readers of radiologypics.com know about ionizing radiation, so I’ve created a few questions that I’d like to get your answers to below. [polldaddy poll=9513786] [polldaddy poll=9513791] [polldaddy poll=9513793]
Radiology Physics – Radioactive Material Package Labels
Packages that arrive to a nuclear medicine department may be labeled with special radioactive labels that have specific allowable limits of radiation depending on the label. As part of the radioisotope safety examination, candidates should be aware of what these labels mean. The captions of each label below have the specific amounts of radiation that each […]
Radiology Physics – Comparisons of Mammography and General Radiography
The test question writers at the American Board of Radiology seem to be obsessed with comparing mammography and general radiography. The below table should be high yield information for the ABR Core examination and certifying examination. In simple terms, mammography is lower energy, takes longer, generally uses different targets and filters, and is higher resolution. Those are […]
Radiology Physics – Radionuclides
As a third installment in a series of articles on radiology physics, I’ve included a good summary table of important radionuclides to know for the ABR Core examination. This test also contains a component of the Radioisotope Safety Examination (RISE) which must be passed to obtain an Authorized User status from the ABR. Part of the […]
Radiology Physics – Acute Radiation Syndromes
In continuation of a series of posts on radiology physics as preparation for the ABR Core Examination, another important set of threshold doses to consider are those for acute radiation syndromes. Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS), or radiation sickness, is a serious illness that can happen when a person is exposed to very high levels of radiation, […]