Rotating MRI with mammography at six-month intervals can detect breast cancers not identified by mammography alone, according to research from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center presented at the 31st annual CRTC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium last week.

With more people having brain MRIs for various reasons, doctors are finding people whose scans show signs of multiple sclerosis (MS), even though they have no symptoms of the disease. A new study published in the Dec. 10 online issue of Neurology found that a third of these people developed MS within an average of about five years.

Patients with cochlear implants may want to steer clear of certain magnetic imaging devices, such as 3T MRIs, because the machines can demagnetize the patient's implant, according to a study published in the December issue of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.

The promise of structured reporting for the diagnostic imaging interpretation report is improved clinician communication, better quality patient care and improved workflow. However, work remains to be done on these systems to enable seamless deployment that does not compromise radiologist productivity or, potentially, their interpretation accuracy.

It appears to be safe for patients with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators to undergo MR imaging. Additionally, the diagnostic benefits of MRI far outweigh the perceived risks in patients with implantable devices, according to two studies presented at the 2008 American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions.

The Cooper Clinics new breast health facility in McKinney, Texas, has installed the Aurora 1.5Tesla dedicated breast MRI system from Aurora Imaging Technologies.

Medtronic has received the European CE Mark for its EnRhythm MRI SureScan pacemaker and CapSureFix MRI SureScan pacing leads designed for use in MRI systems under specified conditions.

Regular MRI evaluations show that only about half of patients with multiple sclerosis achieve and sustain a response to treatment with interferon beta over three years, according to a study posted Nov. 11 online, and will appear in the January 2009 print issue of Archives of Neurology.