Radiology

Dr. Phillip Unger has been named a fellow of the American College of Radiology for his contributions to radiology. Organization officials said that fellowships are awarded for significant scientific or clinical research. Unger, a radiologist at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, was also chosen based on his service as a teacher and his outstanding reputation among colleagues, officials said.

The radiation doses emitted by the most common walk-through airport scanners are extremely small and pose no significant health risk, according to a new report by a UC San Francisco radiology specialist. Still, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a professor at the university's radiology and biomedical imaging department, recommends more independent testing to ensure the scanners are operating as designed. The report published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine comes in response to opposition from privacy rights groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center to the use of full-body scanners.

Four months after he was investigated for a possible conflict of interest involving the hiring of a financial donor's son, the chairman of UCI Medical Center's radiology department said Tuesday that he would relinquish his post to spend more time on research and with patients. Dr. Fong Tsai is the third top official at UCI's health sciences program to announce he is stepping down since revelations of problems at the Orange hospital, most prominently a failed liver-transplant program.

The abrupt shutdown of two aging nuclear reactors that produce a radioisotope widely used in medical imaging has forced physicians in the U.S. and abroad into a crisis, requiring them to postpone or cancel necessary scans for heart disease and cancer, or turn to alternative tests that are not as accurate, take longer and expose patients to higher doses of radiation. Because of limits on testing produced by the shortage, some patients will undergo heart or cancer surgeries that could have been prevented by imaging, and others will miss needed surgeries because of the lack of testing, said Dr. Michael Graham of the University of Iowa, president of SNM, formerly the Society of Nuclear Medicine.

In cancer treatment, brain tumors often defy doctors' best conventional therapies. Chemotherapies seldom work because the natural blood-brain barrier prevents blood-borne toxins (and medicines) from reaching the brain. The use of conventional radiation therapy is limited by the risks of damaging healthy areas of the brain. Surgery, while usually the treatment of choice, may not be possible: Some areas of the brain cannot be safely operated upon.

The radiation doses emitted by the most common walk-through airport scanners are extremely small and pose no significant health risk, according to a new report by a UC San Francisco radiology specialist. Still, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a professor at the university's radiology and biomedical imaging department, recommends more independent testing to ensure the scanners are operating as designed. The report published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine comes in response to opposition from privacy rights groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center to the use of full-body scanners.

Orange County has abruptly shut down its inspections of X-ray and mammography machines, leaving five inspectors jobless and stirring concern about the demise of a widely praised program. County officials last week asked the state to take over the 34-year-old radiological health program, which oversees inspections of several thousand X-ray and mammography machines and assists in emergency drills for the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

The radiology department at La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, 7901 Walker St., La Palma, will screen candy and other Halloween treats on Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. as a service to the community. Children must be accompanied by an adult. According to Spencer Thompson, the hospital's chief radiology technologist, the procedure is safe and effective in detecting metal components in candy and other treats.

Obese Americans are overwhelming medical imaging machines that now have a hard time peering inside their bodies, doctors reported Wednesday. "Hospital radiology departments are increasingly unable to adequately image and assess obese patients because of the limitations in current radiology equipment," said Raul Uppot, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Zoila Najera thought she dreamed too much. The 15-year-old could rattle off a long list of professions she had considered: actress, songwriter, receptionist. But because Zoila is blind, people only discouraged her when she told them she planned to get a job after high school. Eventually, she started believing them. "A lot of people just don't realize that we're capable of doing things," she said.

A convicted rapist fired in August from his job as a county hospital X-ray technologist was rehired by county managers through a contractor a short time later to do the same work at an East Los Angeles health clinic, officials acknowledged Wednesday. Gariner Beasley, 48, was fired again Tuesday and escorted from the Edward R. Roybal Comprehensive Health Center, said county Supervisor Gloria Molina.

As part of an anti-terrorism effort, the Los Angeles Police Department is now equipping a helicopter and officers on the ground with devices capable of detecting potential radiological weapons or materials used in so-called dirty bombs. Police Chief William J. Bratton said a new suitcase-size device for one of the LAPD's helicopters can detect "radiation signatures" from up to 800 feet above ground. In addition, the LAPD bought six hand-held units that officers on the ground can use.

An increasingly popular technology that uses computers to scan mammograms actually produces worse results than human reviewers using their eyes and experience, according to a study released Wednesday. Radiologists using computer-assisted detection software were more likely to interpret a benign growth as potentially cancerous, researchers said in the New England Journal of Medicine.

John A. Campbell, 92, a doctor who established the radiology department at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in the early 1970s, died of cancer Dec. 4 at a daughter's home in Reno, his family said. Campbell was recruited to lead the radiology department because he and his wife were known to be "interested in helping the chronically underserved," said Dr. Fred Mishkin, a radiologist who was on the faculty with Campbell at King/Drew and Indiana University's medical school.

Four months after he was investigated for a possible conflict of interest involving the hiring of a financial donor's son, the chairman of UCI Medical Center's radiology department said Tuesday that he would relinquish his post to spend more time on research and with patients. Dr. Fong Tsai is the third top official at UCI's health sciences program to announce he is stepping down since revelations of problems at the Orange hospital, most prominently a failed liver-transplant program.

A UC Irvine report released Wednesday found a conflict of interest in a doctor's $250,000 pledge to the school's radiology department shortly after it hired his son as a resident but said the donation played no part in his appointment. The report also concluded that the donor and the radiology department chairman did not realize it was a conflict of interest and recommended the school tighten policies governing how residents are hired.

An increasingly popular technology that uses computers to scan mammograms actually produces worse results than human reviewers using their eyes and experience, according to a study released Wednesday. Radiologists using computer-assisted detection software were more likely to interpret a benign growth as potentially cancerous, researchers said in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A former Los Angeles County health department scientist testified Wednesday that he was sure "the ax was about to fall on my neck" after his whistle-blowing efforts to report alleged safety hazards were followed by notification that his job description was being changed. Three months later, Reuven Zach said, he received a letter informing him that he was being laid off from his position as a medical radiation physicist at the Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar.

Re "Donor's Son Got UCI Residency," Jan. 26 I have been involved in radiology medical education for my entire career as director at Hahnemann and Yale universities and, since 1979, at UC Irvine, where I served as director of the radiology residency program. Many of our applicants are in the top of their classes, are well published and have had extraordinary life experiences. Yet these alone do not make a good radiologist, and the skills involved in visualizing and interpreting various imaging modalities develops over time.

A young Orange County physician was accepted into a newly created residency position in radiology at UCI Medical Center the same month his father pledged $250,000 to the radiology department, according to records and interviews. Alfred Sein was not chosen by UCI during the regular selection process that determines where most medical school graduates do their residency to become a specialist.