ABM Clinical Protocol #30: Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Studies in Lactating Women.

A central goal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine is the development of clinical protocols for managing common medical problems that may impact breastfeeding success. These protocols serve only as guidelines for the care of breastfeeding mothers and infants and do not delineate an exclusive course of treatment or serve as standards of medical care. Variations in treatment may be appropriate according to the needs of an individual patient.

Detection of different kidney stone types: an ex vivo comparison of ultrashort echo time MRI to reference standard CT.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: With the development of ultrashort echo time (UTE) sequences, it may now be possible to detect kidney stones by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this study, kidney stones of varying composition and sizes were imaged using both UTE MRI as well as the reference standard of computed tomography (CT), with different surrounding materials and scan setups. METHODS: One hundred and fourteen kidney stones were inserted into agarose and urine phantoms and imaged both on a dual-energy CT (DECT) scanner using a standard renal stone imaging protocol and on an MRI scanner using the UTE sequence with both head and body surface coils. A subset of the stones representing all composition types and sizes was then inserted into the collecting system of porcine kidneys and imaged in vitro with both CT and MRI. RESULTS: All of the stones were visible on both CT and MRI imaging. DECT was capable of differentiating between uric acid and nonuric acid stones. In MRI imaging, the choice of coil and large field of view (FOV) did not affect stone detection or image quality. The MRI images showed good visualization of the stones' shapes, and the stones' dimensions measured from MRI were in good agreement with the actual values (R(2)=0.886, 0.895, and 0.81 in the agarose phantom, urine phantom, and pig kidneys, respectively). The measured T2 relaxation times ranged from 4.2 to 7.5ms, but did not show significant differences among different stone composition types. CONCLUSIONS: UTE MRI compared favorably with the reference standard CT for imaging stones of different composition types and sizes using body surface coil and large FOV, which suggests potential usefulness of UTE MRI in imaging kidney stones in vivo.

Utilization of Multiple I-125 Radioactive Seeds in the Same Breast is Safe and Feasible: A Multi-institutional Experience.

OBJECTIVE: Radioactive seed localization has been shown to be a reliable and safe alternative to wire localization in breast surgery, but little is known about the use of multiple localization seeds. This study evaluated the utilization of multiple seeds in the same breast. METHODS: All patients who underwent localization of breast lesions using multiple I-125 seeds at three Mayo Clinic sites between January 2003 and June 2014 were included. RESULTS: A total of 461 operations were performed during an 11.5-year study period. The indications for multiple seed placement in the same breast included multiple lesions (n = 258), bracketing (n = 110), multiple lesions and bracketing (n = 67), and a second inserted for more precise localization (n = 26). Among patients with bracketing seeds, the mean distance between seeds was 45 (range 8-110) mm. Removal of the targeted lesion was successful in all cases; 96% of bracketed lesions were removed as a single specimen, and a 98% retrieval rate within the first specimen was obtained. In total 108 of 382 (28%) patients had close or positive margin resulting in a second procedure and 60 of 177 (34%) patients with bracketing procedures underwent reexcision of positive margins or culminated in a mastectomy. Routine intraoperative frozen section analysis was associated with a lower reoperation rate compared with a selective approach to intraoperative margin assessment. CONCLUSIONS: The use of multiple radioactive seeds for localizing multiple lesions in the same breast or bracketing lesions is feasible and safe. Because of the extent of disease, a substantial percentage of these patients require margin reexcision or conversion to mastectomy.