Integrating Text and Image Analysis: Exploring GPT-4V's Capabilities in Advanced Radiological Applications Across Subspecialties.

This study demonstrates that GPT-4V outperforms GPT-4 across radiology subspecialties in analyzing 207 cases with 1312 images from the Radiological Society of North America Case Collection.

'Scanxiety': Content analysis of pre-MRI patient experience on Instagram.

INTRODUCTION: Distress and anxiety are commonly reported during the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) experience with prior studies suggesting the pre-MRI period is a time of heightened distress. There is a paucity of literature exploring preprocedural distress and anxiety, in particular qualitative research analysing patient experience. Instagram is rapidly becoming an important social media platform though which to conduct health research. A gradually increasing number of studies have examined social media to gain insight into patient experience within medical radiation science (MRS). This study is considered as the first to explore patient experience of MRI using Instagram as a data source. METHODS: This study investigated the patient experience during the pre-MRI period by performing a content analysis on open-source Instagram posts. Ethical approval for the study was sought and approved by the Charles Sturt University, Human Research Ethics Committee. RESULTS: Six themes emerged from the extracted data; Journey to the MRI, Waiting, Anticipating the MRI procedure, Preparing for the MRI procedure, Negative interaction, and Fear of the results. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study provide novel self-reported and unsolicited insight into the diverse, multifactorial, and often concomitant nature of preprocedural MRI anxiety and distress. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study adds to a growing body of literature advocating for a compassionate, holistic, and person-centered approach when caring for patients in MRI that also considers their emotional and psychological wellbeing.

Do People Favor Artificial Intelligence Over Physicians? A Survey Among the General Population and Their View on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the general population's view on artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine with specific emphasis on 3 areas that have experienced major progress in AI research in the past few years, namely radiology, robotic surgery, and dermatology. METHODS: For this prospective study, the April 2020 Online Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences Panel Wave was used. Of the 3117 Longitudinal Internet Studies For The Social Sciences panel members contacted, 2411 completed the full questionnaire (77.4% response rate), after combining data from earlier waves, the final sample size was 1909. A total of 3 scales focusing on trust in the implementation of AI in radiology, robotic surgery, and dermatology were used. Repeated-measures analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance was used for comparison. RESULTS: The overall means show that respondents have slightly more trust in AI in dermatology than in radiology and surgery. The means show that higher educated males, employed or student, of Western background, and those not admitted to a hospital in the past 12 months have more trust in AI. The trust in AI in radiology, robotic surgery, and dermatology is positively associated with belief in the efficiency of AI and these specific domains were negatively associated with distrust and accountability in AI in general. CONCLUSIONS: The general population is more distrustful of AI in medicine unlike the overall optimistic views posed in the media. The level of trust is dependent on what medical area is subject to scrutiny. Certain demographic characteristics and individuals with a generally positive view on AI and its efficiency are significantly associated with higher levels of trust in AI.

Disparate participation by gender of conference attendants in scientific discussions.

One important metric of a radiologist's visibility and influence is their ability to participate in discussion within their community. The goal of our study was to compare the participation level of men and women in scientific discussions at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Eleven volunteers collected participation data by gender in 59 sessions (286 presentations) at the 2018 RSNA meeting. Data was analyzed using a combination of Chi-squared, paired Wilcoxon signed-rank and T-test. Of all RSNA professional attendees at the RSNA, 68% were men and 32% were women. Of the 2869 presentations listed in the program, 65% were presented by men and 35% were presented by women. Of the 286 presentations in our sample, 177 (61.8%) were presented by men and 109 (38.1%) were presented by women. Of these 286 presentations, 81 (63%) were moderated by men and 47 (37%) were moderated by women. From the audience, 190 male attendees participated in 134 question-and-answer (Q&A) sessions following presentations and 58 female attendees participated in 52 Q&A sessions (P<0.001). Female attendees who did participate in Q&A sessions talked for a significantly shorter period of time (mean 7.14 ± 17.7 seconds, median 0) compared to male attendees (28.7 ± 29.6 seconds, median 16; P<0.001). Overall, our findings demonstrate that women participated less than men in the Q&A sessions at RSNA 2018, and talked for a shorter period of time. The fact that women were outnumbered among their male peers may explain the difference in behavior by gender.

Musculoskeletal symptoms among radiation technologists in Saudi Arabia: prevalence and causative factors.

BACKGROUND: Radiation technologists usually perform several physical tasks as part of their work routine that are related to imaging equipment and handling patients. These kinds of physical activities increase their risk of developing musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS). PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence and causative factors of MSS among radiation technologists in Saudi Arabia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A previously validated and published questionnaire was sent electronically to 800 radiation technologists in Saudi Arabia. It focused on the presence and prior diagnosis of MSS. Questions to determine risk factors were included. RESULTS: A total of 381 responses were obtained. MSS were indicated by 326 responders (85.6%). Furthermore, it was reported that 309 responders (81.1%) spent more than 2 h per day in awkward postures. Of the responders, 164 (43%) stated that they worked 4 h per day on a personal computer or PACS. The most frequently selected reasons for MSS included patient transfer (50.6%), chairs (38.5%), lead aprons (25.6%), moving heavy equipment (23.1%), and fixed table height (19.4%). An association between work-related MSS and gender was observed (χ2(1) = 5.338; P = 0.021). Similarly, an association between work-related MSS and age was also observed (χ2(3) = 48.58; P = 0.000). CONCLUSION: Radiation technologists in Saudi Arabia reported a fairly high incidence of MSS, more commonly among female and senior workers. To have a better and safer workplace for radiation technologists, this study suggests preventive measures on organizational and individual levels.

Medical imaging call centre: a communication success story.

AIM: To evaluate utilisation of a medical imaging call centre (MICC) at a multi-site, academic radiology department, focusing on communication of critical, urgent, or significant unexpected findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional research ethics board approval was obtained. All calls made to MICC from 1 January to 31 December 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. The total number of calls, date, and reason of each call, level of report alert, and turnaround time (TAT) were recorded. Level 1, 2, and 3 alerts were defined as "potentially life-threatening new/unexpected findings", "could result in morbidity/mortality", or "not immediately life-threatening or urgent", respectively. TAT was defined as the time from alert request received by the MICC until acknowledgement of receipt by the referring physician, with a desired TAT of 60 min, 3 h, and 3 days for each level, respectively. RESULTS: The MICC received 29,799 calls in 2019, on average 2,483 (range 1,989-3,098) calls per month. The most common indications for contacting the MICC were to request imaging reports to be expedited (14,916 calls, 50%) and issuing report alerts to communicate unexpected or urgent findings (7,060 calls, 24%). Average number and range of calls for Level 1, 2, and 3 alerts were 57 (39-80), 345 (307-388), and 187 (127-215) per month, respectively. Average TAT for Level 1, 2, and 3 report alerts were 59 min, 2 h 26 min, and 19 h 39 min, respectively. CONCLUSION: The MICC received a large volume of calls and was a successful method for timely communication of unexpected or urgent imaging findings using a three-tiered alert system.

Rastreio radiológico para tuberculose em uma penitenciária do sul do Brasil / Radiological screening for tuberculosis in a prison in the south of Brazil

Introdução: Conhecer o perfil da população privada de liberdade da Penitenciária Modulada de Osório (PMO), do ponto de vista radiológico e estimar a prevalência da tuberculose ativa no presídio.Métodos: Foi realizada análise retrospectiva de 677 radiografias de tórax obtidas para rastreio de tuberculose e de dados da ficha de atendimento do setor de Radiologia no período de julho a outubro de 2019.Resultados: Foram detectadas 150 radiografias alteradas, o que representa 22% dos 677 exames. Dos 150 exames alterados, 109 (16% do total e 72% dos alterados) apresentavam lesões com características de doença granulomatosa. Dos 677 pacientes, 11,5% referiram tratamento atual ou prévio para tuberculose e estes representam 38% dos casos com radiografias alteradas. Foram detectados 50 pacientes sem história prévia de tuberculose com lesões de aspecto muito provavelmente devido a tuberculose com características de doença ativa (7,3% do total), os quais foram encaminhados para investigação como casos novos. Em relação ao questionário aplicado, não foi observada diferença significativa entre os pacientes que referiam ou negavam tosse entre os com exames normais e alterados.Conclusões: Os indivíduos privados de liberdade apresentaram alta prevalência de alterações radiológicas com aspecto sugestivo de doença granulomatosa. Estes achados permitem inferir que na Penitenciária Modulada de Osório há elevada prevalência de tuberculose, provavelmente em níveis semelhantes a outras casas prisionais do Brasil.

Introduction: To determine the radiologic profile of 'the prisoners at Osório Modular Prison and estimate the prevalence of active tuberculosis in the institution.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 677 chest radiographs obtained for tuberculosis screening and data from the medical records of prisoners seen at the Radiology Department from July to October 2019.Results: Of 677 radiographs, 150 (22%) showed abnormalities. Of these, 109 (16% of total or 72% of abnormal radiographs) showed lesions characteristic of granulomatous disease. Of all 677 patients, 11.5% reported current or previous treatment of tuberculosis, accounting for 38% of all abnormal radiographs. Fifty patients with no previous history of tuberculosis had lesions that were most likely due to active tuberculosis (7.3% of total), and were referred for further investigation as new cases. The responses to the questionnaire revealed no significant difference between patients who reported or denied coughing when comparing those with normal vs abnormal radiographs.Conclusions: Individuals deprived of liberty had a high prevalence of radiologic abnormalities suggestive of granulomatous disease. These findings allow us to infer that there is a high prevalence of tuberculosis at Osório Modular Prison, probably at levels comparable to those of other prison facilities in Brazil.

The history of magnetic resonance imaging and its reflections in Acta Radiologica.

The first reports in Acta Radiologica on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were published in 1984, four years after the first commercial MR scanners became available. For the first two years, all MR papers originated from the USA. Nordic contributions started in 1986, and until 2020, authors from 44 different countries have published MR papers in Acta Radiologica. Papers on MRI have constituted, on average, 30%-40% of all published original articles in Acta Radiologica, with a high of 49% in 2019. The MR papers published since 1984 document tremendous progress in several areas such as magnet and coil design, motion compensation techniques, faster image acquisitions, new image contrast, contrast-enhanced MRI, functional MRI, and image analysis. In this historical review, all of these aspects of MRI are discussed and related to Acta Radiologica papers.

Holistic processing only? The role of the right fusiform face area in radiological expertise.

Radiologists can visually detect abnormalities on radiographs within 2s, a process that resembles holistic visual processing of faces. Interestingly, there is empirical evidence using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for the involvement of the right fusiform face area (FFA) in visual-expertise tasks such as radiological image interpretation. The speed by which stimuli (e.g., faces, abnormalities) are recognized is an important characteristic of holistic processing. However, evidence for the involvement of the right FFA in holistic processing in radiology comes mostly from short or artificial tasks in which the quick, 'holistic' mode of diagnostic processing is not contrasted with the slower 'search-to-find' mode. In our fMRI study, we hypothesized that the right FFA responds selectively to the 'holistic' mode of diagnostic processing and less so to the 'search-to-find' mode. Eleven laypeople and 17 radiologists in training diagnosed 66 radiographs in 2s each (holistic mode) and subsequently checked their diagnosis in an extended (10-s) period (search-to-find mode). During data analysis, we first identified individual regions of interest (ROIs) for the right FFA using a localizer task. Then we employed ROI-based ANOVAs and obtained tentative support for the hypothesis that the right FFA shows more activation for radiologists in training versus laypeople, in particular in the holistic mode (i.e., during 2s trials), and less so in the search-to-find mode (i.e., during 10-s trials). No significant correlation was found between diagnostic performance (diagnostic accuracy) and brain-activation level within the right FFA for both, short-presentation and long-presentation diagnostic trials. Our results provide tentative evidence from a diagnostic-reasoning task that the FFA supports the holistic processing of visual stimuli in participants' expertise domain.

Correlation Between Surrogate End Points and Overall Survival in a Multi-institutional Clinicogenomic Cohort of Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung or Colorectal Cancer.

Importance: Contemporary observational cancer research requires associating genomic biomarkers with reproducible end points; overall survival (OS) is a key end point, but interpretation can be challenging when multiple lines of therapy and prolonged survival are common. Progression-free survival (PFS), time to treatment discontinuation (TTD), and time to next treatment (TTNT) are alternative end points, but their utility as surrogates for OS in real-world clinicogenomic data sets has not been well characterized. Objective: To measure correlations between candidate surrogate end points and OS in a multi-institutional clinicogenomic data set. Design, Setting, and Participants: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or colorectal cancer (CRC) whose tumors were genotyped at 4 academic centers from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017, and who initiated systemic therapy for advanced disease. Patients were followed up through August 31, 2020 (NSCLC), and October 31, 2020 (CRC). Statistical analyses were conducted on January 5, 2021. Exposures: Candidate surrogate end points included TTD; TTNT; PFS based on imaging reports only; PFS based on medical oncologist ascertainment only; PFS based on either imaging or medical oncologist ascertainment, whichever came first; and PFS defined by a requirement that both imaging and medical oncologist ascertainment have indicated progression. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was the correlation between candidate surrogate end points and OS. Results: There were 1161 patients with NSCLC (648 women [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 63 [11] years) and 1150 with CRC (647 men [56.3%]; mean [SD] age, 54 [12] years) identified for analysis. Progression-free survival based on both imaging and medical oncologist documentation was most correlated with OS (NSCLC: ρ = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.73-0.79; CRC: ρ = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.69-0.75). Time to treatment discontinuation was least associated with OS (NSCLC: ρ = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.40-0.50; CRC: ρ = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.06-0.19). Time to next treatment was modestly associated with OS (NSCLC: ρ = 0.60; 0.55-0.64; CRC: ρ = 0.39; 95% CI, 0.32-0.46). Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study suggests that PFS based on both a radiologist and a treating oncologist determining that a progression event has occurred was the surrogate end point most highly correlated with OS for analysis of observational clinicogenomic data.

Notification System for Overdue Radiology Recommendations Improves Rates of Follow-Up and Diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to quantify improved rates of follow-up and additional important diagnoses made after notification for overdue workups recommended by radiologists. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Standard reports from imaging studies performed at our institution from October through November 2016 were searched for the words "recommend" or "advised," yielding 9784 studies. Of these, 5245 were excluded, yielding 4539 studies; reports for 1599 of these 4539 consecutive studies were reviewed to identify firm or soft recommendations or findings requiring immediate management. If recommended follow-ups were incomplete within 1 month of the advised time, providers were notified. Compliance was calculated before and after notification and was compared using a one-sample test of proportion. RESULTS. Of 1599 patients, 92 were excluded because they had findings requiring immediate management, and 684 were excluded because of soft recommendations, yielding 823 patients. Of these patients, 125 were not yet overdue for follow-up and were excluded, and 18 were excluded because of death or transfer to another institution. Of the remaining 680 patients, follow-up was completed for 503 (74.0%). A total of 177 (26.0%) of the 680 patients were overdue for follow-up, and providers were notified. Of these 177 patients, 36 (20.3%) completed their follow-ups after notification, 34 (19.2%) had follow-up designated by the provider as nonindicated, and 107 (60.5%) were lost to follow-up, yielding four clinically important diagnoses: one biopsy-proven malignancy, one growing mass, and two thyroid nodules requiring biopsy. The rate of incomplete follow-ups after communication decreased from 26.0% (177/680) to 20.7% (141/680) (95% CI, 17.7-23.9%; p = .002), with a 20.4% reduction in relative risk of noncompliance, and 39.5% (70/177) of overdue cases were resolved when nonindicated studies were included. CONCLUSION. Notification of overdue imaging recommendations reduces incomplete follow-ups and yields clinically important diagnoses.

The Cheshire & Merseyside Collaborative trainee-led on-call service: a review of safety and efficiency.

AIM: To assess safety and efficiency of the Cheshire & Merseyside Collaborative, the largest trainee led on-call service in the UK, based on discrepancy rates and time taken to issue reports. MATERIALS & METHODS: All studies reported by the collaborative in a 4-week period were evaluated for discrepancy and the time taken to issue a report. These figures were compared against the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) guidelines and a recent national audit of discrepancy rates. The time taken to report was measured against the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Trauma Audit Research Network (TARN) guidelines. RESULTS: The overall discrepancy rates for the collaborative were 2.5% for minor discrepancies and 2% for major discrepancies, which is within the RCR standard. The median time taken to issue a report was 30 min, which is within the NICE and TARN 1-h targets. CONCLUSIONS: The Cheshire & Merseyside Collaborative can be deemed a safe and efficient way of delivering an out-of-hours radiology service.

Interobserver agreement of transvaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in local staging of cervical cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate interobserver agreement for the assessment of local tumor extension in women with cervical cancer, among experienced and less experienced observers, using transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: The TVS observers were all gynecologists and consultant ultrasound specialists, six with and seven without previous experience in cervical cancer imaging. The MRI observers were five radiologists experienced in pelvic MRI and four less experienced radiology residents without previous experience in MRI of the pelvis. The less experienced TVS observers and all MRI observers underwent a short basic training session in the assessment of cervical tumor extension, while the experienced TVS observers received only a written directive. All observers were assigned the same images from cervical cancer patients at all stages (n = 60) and performed offline evaluation to answer the following three questions: (1) Is there a visible primary tumor? (2) Does the tumor infiltrate > ⅓ of the cervical stroma? and (3) Is there parametrial invasion? Interobserver agreement within the four groups of observers was assessed using Fleiss kappa (κ) with 95% CI. RESULTS: Experienced and less experienced TVS observers, respectively, had moderate interobserver agreement with respect to tumor detection (κ (95% CI), 0.46 (0.40-0.53) and 0.46 (0.41-0.52)), stromal invasion > ⅓ (κ (95% CI), 0.45 (0.38-0.51) and 0.53 (0.40-0.58)) and parametrial invasion (κ (95% CI), 0.57 (0.51-0.64) and 0.44 (0.39-0.50)). Experienced MRI observers had good interobserver agreement with respect to tumor detection (κ (95% CI), 0.70 (0.62-0.78)), while less experienced MRI observers had moderate agreement (κ (95% CI), 0.51 (0.41-0.62)), and both experienced and less experienced MRI observers, respectively, had good interobserver agreement regarding stromal invasion (κ (95% CI), 0.80 (0.72-0.88) and 0.71 (0.61-0.81)) and parametrial invasion (κ (95% CI), 0.69 (0.61-0.77) and 0.71 (0.61-0.81)). CONCLUSIONS: We found interobserver agreement for the assessment of local tumor extension in patients with cervical cancer to be moderate for TVS and moderate-to-good for MRI. The level of interobserver agreement was associated with experience among TVS observers only for parametrial invasion. © 2021 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Radiology for medical students: Do we teach enough? A national study.

OBJECTIVE: A recent study has shown that the averaged time tabled teaching for a medical student across 5 years in the UK was 4629 hours. Radiology has been demonstrated to be an excellent teaching source, yet the number of hours allocated to this has never been calculated.The aims of this study were to evaluate and quantify the hours allocated to radiology teaching in Scottish Medical Schools and to evaluate if they can fulfil requirements expected from other Clinical disciplines and the upcoming General Medical Council Medical Licensing Assessment (GMC MLA). METHODS: Data pertaining to timetabled teaching for Radiology in Scottish Universities were obtained from the authors of the Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey. In addition, University Lead Clinician Teachers were surveyed on the radiological investigations and skills medical students should have at graduation. RESULTS: Medical students in Scottish Universities were allocated 59 h in Radiology (0.3%) out of a total 19,325 h of timetabled teaching. Hospital-based teaching was variable and ranged from 0 to 31 h. Almost half (15 of 31) of Clinician Teachers felt that there was insufficient radiology teaching in their specialty. Thirteen of 30 conditions included in the GMC MLA were listed by Clinician Teachers, while 23 others not listed by the GMC were considered important and cited by them. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that medical students do not receive enough radiology teaching. This needs to be addressed by Universities in collaboration with the NHS in an effort to bring up this up to line with other developed countries and prepare students for the GMC MLA. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: (1) There is insufficient time allocated in Medical Students' curriculum to Radiology.(2) Radiology teaching in medical schools fall short of University Lead Clinician Teachers' and GMC expectations of medical students at graduation.

Importance of Radiologists in Optimizing Outcomes for Older Americans with Acute Abdomen.

BACKGROUND: Patients presenting with acute abdominal pain often undergo a computed tomography (CT) scan as part of their diagnostic workup. We investigated the relationship between availability, timeliness, and interpretation of CT imaging and outcomes for life-threatening intra-abdominal diseases or "acute abdomen," in older Americans. METHODS: Data from a 2015 national survey of 2811 hospitals regarding emergency general surgery structures and processes (60.1% overall response, n = 1690) were linked to 2015 Medicare inpatient claims data. We identified beneficiaries aged ≥65 admitted emergently with a confirmatory acute abdomen diagnosis code and operative intervention on the same calendar date. Multivariable regression models adjusted for significant covariates determined odds of complications and mortality based on CT resources. RESULTS: We identified 9125 patients with acute abdomen treated at 1253 hospitals, of which 78% had ≥64-slice CT scanners and 85% had 24/7 CT technicians. Overnight CT reads were provided by in-house radiologists at 14% of hospitals and by teleradiologists at 66%. Patients were predominantly 65-74 y old (43%), white (88%), females (60%), and with ≥3 comorbidities (67%) and 8.6% died. STAT radiology reads by a board-certified radiologist rarely/never available in 2 h was associated with increased odds of systemic complication and mortality (adjusted odds ratio 2.6 [1.3-5.4] and 2.3 [1.1-4.8], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Delays obtaining results are associated with adverse outcomes in older patients with acute abdomen. This may be due to delays in surgical consultation and time to source control while waiting for imaging results. Processes to ensure timely interpretation of CT scans in patients with abdominal pain may improve outcomes in high-risk patients.

An International Survey of Quality and Safety Programs in Radiology.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the status of radiology quality improvement programs in a variety of selected nations worldwide. METHODS: A survey was developed by select members of the International Economics Committee of the American College of Radiology on quality programs and was distributed to committee members. Members responded on behalf of their country. The 51-question survey asked about 12 different quality initiatives which were grouped into 4 themes: departments, users, equipment, and outcomes. Respondents reported whether a designated type of quality initiative was used in their country and answered subsequent questions further characterizing it. RESULTS: The response rate was 100% and represented Australia, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States. The most frequently reported quality initiatives were imaging appropriateness (91.7%) and disease registries (91.7%), followed by key performance indicators (83.3%) and morbidity and mortality rounds (83.3%). Peer review, equipment accreditation, radiation dose monitoring, and structured reporting were reported by 75.0% of respondents, followed by 58.3% of respondents for quality audits and critical incident reporting. The least frequently reported initiatives included Lean/Kaizen exercises and physician performance assessments, implemented by 25.0% of respondents. CONCLUSION: There is considerable diversity in the quality programs used throughout the world, despite some influence by national and international organizations, from whom further guidance could increase uniformity and optimize patient care in radiology.

Subspecialty Employment Needs in Academic Radiology Settings Across Canada.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this survey was to identify current and projected subspecialty employment needs across Canadian academic radiology practices. METHODS: An electronic survey was distributed to academic radiology department heads within the faculties of medicine at Canadian universities between September and October 2019. Respondents identified the number of partnership track radiologists hired in the last academic year, the number of fellowship-trained new hires, and the top 3 subspecialties for new and prospective hires. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. RESULTS: Nine academic radiology department heads responded to the survey (75% response rate) with good regional representation across Canada. Ninety-five percent of new hires within the last academic year were subspecialty fellowship trained. The top subspecialties for new hires in the last year were abdominal imaging and interventional neuroradiology, with 77.8% and 44.4% of academic leaders reporting them as one of the top 3 subspecialties, respectively. The top 3 subspecialties for prospective hires in the next academic year included musculoskeletal imaging (n = 6, 66.7%), followed by abdominal imaging (n = 5, 55.6%), with pediatric radiology (n = 3, 33.3%) and cardiothoracic imaging (n = 3, 33.3%) tying for third place. There was some variability in the subspecialty needs for hires between regions. CONCLUSIONS: The survey results provide valuable information about the current and future subspecialty needs of academic radiology practices. The data obtained can provide guidance to trainees regarding fellowship training options that will optimize their future employability.

Female Authorship in Radiology: Trends in the Past Decade in CARJ.

PURPOSE: To identify trends in female authorship in the Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal (CARJ) from 2010 to 2019. METHODS: We retrieved papers published in the CARJ over a 10-year period, and retrospectively reviewed 602 articles. All articles except editorials and advertisements were included. We categorized the names of the first and last position authors as female or male and excluded articles that had at least one author of which gender was not known. We compared the trends in the first and last position authors of the articles from 2010 to 2019. For statistical analysis, logistic regression was performed with reported odds ratios (ORs), and a P value of <.05 was defined as statistically significant. RESULTS: Five hundred thirteen articles met inclusion criteria. Among them, 23 articles with a single author were classified as having only a first author. 39.8% (204/513) of first authors were female and 26.9% (132/490) of last authors were female. There has been an overall temporal increase in the odds of both the first and last author being female in CARJ publications (OR: 1.11, P = .034). Similarly, the odds a CARJ publication's first author being female increased over time (OR: 1.07, P = .033). Female last author did not predict female first author (OR: 1.48, P = .056). There was no association identified between female last author and year of publication (OR: 1.04, P = .225). CONCLUSION: There has been an overall increase in engagement of female authorship in CARJ.

Time Requirement and Feasibility of a Systematic Quality Peer Review of Reporting in Radiology.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the human resources required for a retrospective quality review of different percentages of all routine diagnostic procedures in the Department of Radiology at Bern University Hospital, Switzerland. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three board-certified radiologists retrospectively evaluated the quality of the radiological reports of a total of 150 examinations (5 different examination types: abdominal CT, chest CT, mammography, conventional X-ray images and abdominal MRI). Each report was assigned a RADPEER score of 1 to 3 (score 1: concur with previous interpretation; score 2: discrepancy in interpretation/not ordinarily expected to be made; score 3: discrepancy in interpretation/should be made most of the time). The time (in seconds, s) required for each review was documented and compared. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to calculate the total workload for reviewing different percentages of the total annual reporting volume of the clinic. RESULTS: Among the total of 450 reviews analyzed, 91.1 % (410/450) were assigned a score of 1 and 8.9 % (40/450) were assigned scores of 2 or 3. The average time (in seconds) required for a peer review was 60.4 s (min. 5 s, max. 245 s). The reviewer with the greatest clinical experience needed significantly less time for reviewing the reports than the two reviewers with less clinical expertise (p < 0.05). Average review times were longer for discrepant ratings with a score of 2 or 3 (p < 0.05). The total time requirement calculated for reviewing all 5 types of examination for one year would be more than 1200 working hours. CONCLUSION: A retrospective peer review of reports of radiological examinations using the RADPEER system requires considerable human resources. However, to improve quality, it seems feasible to peer review at least a portion of the total yearly reporting volume. KEY POINTS: · A systematic retrospective assessment of the content of radiological reports using the RADPEER system involves high personnel costs.. · The retrospective assessment of all reports of a clinic or practice seems unrealistic due to the lack of highly specialized personnel.. · At least part of all reports should be reviewed with the aim of improving the quality of reports.. CITATION FORMAT: · Maurer MH, Brönnimann M, Schroeder C et al. Time Requirement and Feasibility of a Systematic Quality Peer Review of Reporting in Radiology. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2021; 193: 160 - 167.