Insights from a study by the ESC cardiologists of tomorrow nucleus: the junior cardiologists' research reveals that the ESC is well regarded by young cardiologists but there is room for improving its appeal.

AIMS: This research was performed to provide data on the specific needs and expectations of junior cardiologists across Europe from a professional medical organization characterized by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). METHODS: The study was carried out using telephone interviews. The target respondents were based in a wide range of different locations within Europe and were identified by national groups of young cardiologists and trainees. A questionnaire was employed asking about information sources, membership of professional societies and related benefits. RESULTS: A total of 120 interviews were conducted. Websites and journals proved the most popular sources for professional information, consulted by .71 and 68% of respondents, respectively.With regard to the up to date best practice recommendations, guidelines documents were most common, mentioned by 63%. Overall, the ESC resources appeared within highest priority. The two main important tangible benefits expected from membership of professional societies were access to medical information, mostly journals and guidelines, and reduced financial congress requirements. Also, the most significant intangible benefit was networking. CONCLUSIONS: The ESC is widely respected by the junior cardiologists and trainees. Its congresses and guidelines are central to respondents' image of it as a large, well arranged, important, and impressive organization. The ESC is a competently placed institution to further develop its relationship with young cardiologists.

Evaluation of iterative reconstruction (OSEM) versus filtered back-projection for the assessment of myocardial glucose uptake and myocardial perfusion using dynamic PET.

PURPOSE: Iterative reconstruction methods based on ordered-subset expectation maximisation (OSEM) has replaced filtered backprojection (FBP) in many clinical settings owing to the superior image quality. Whether OSEM is as accurate as FBP in quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) is uncertain. We compared the accuracy of OSEM and FBP for regional myocardial (18)F-FDG uptake and (13)NH(3) perfusion measurements in cardiac PET. METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers were studied. Five underwent dynamic (18)F-FDG PET during hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp, and five underwent (13)NH(3) perfusion measurement during rest and adenosine-induced hyperaemia. Images were reconstructed using FBP and OSEM +/- an 8-mm Gaussian post-reconstruction filter. RESULTS: Filtered and unfiltered images showed agreement between the reconstruction methods within +/-2SD in Bland-Altman plots of K (i) values. The use of a Gaussian filter resulted in a systematic underestimation of K (i) in the filtered images of 11%. The mean deviation between the reconstruction methods for both unfiltered and filtered images was 1.3%. Agreement within +/-2SD between the methods was demonstrated for perfusion rate constants up to 2.5 min(-1), corresponding to a perfusion of 3.4 ml g(-1) min(-1). The mean deviation between the two methods for unfiltered data was 2.7%, and for filtered data, 5.3%. CONCLUSION: The (18)F-FDG uptake rate constants showed excellent agreement between the two reconstruction methods. In the perfusion range up to 3.4 ml g(-1) min(-1), agreement between (13)NH(3) perfusion obtained with OSEM and FBP was acceptable. The use of OSEM for measurement of perfusion values higher than 3.4 ml g(-1) min(-1) requires further evaluation.