Patient Advocacy
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
 October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The American Cancer Society predicts an estimated 40,480 women will die from breast cancer in 2008. The death rate for women with breast cancer has declined in recent years, which is probably the result of earlier detection and improved treatment. The earlier that breast cancer is found, the better the chances for successful treatment.
Early detection of breast cancer is key - and PET scanning can help.
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Reimbursement News
CMS Opens the PET National Coverage Determination for More Discussions
CMS has opened this reconsideration of the NCD on PET for an additional 30 days, 9/16/2008 - 10/16/2008. The formal request is to remove the current prospective data collection requirements as required for certain cancers in Section 220.6 of the National Coverage Determination Manual.
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To view the issues and submit comments
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Reimbursement News
Nuclear Technologists Need to Lead Facility Accreditation Efforts
With the ever increasing scrutiny on image quality and the inevitable need for all U.S. facilities to be nationally accredited, it is incumbent upon nuclear medicine technologists to provide the highest quality studies to its providers for purposes of certification and reimbursement, according to a presentation Sept. 12 at the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) conference.
“Increasingly, more and more insurance companies are requiring accreditation from either ICANL [Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories] or ACR [American College of Radiology] to receive reimbursements,” Timothy L. Dunn BS, CNMT, technical director of nuclear cardiology at the Maine Cardiology Associates in South Portland, Maine, said during his ASNC presentation.
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Nuclear Medicine Week
Take Pride in Your Profession
Every year, the SNM and SNMTS join forces with the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging community to gain recognition and support for the field. Celebrated during the first full week of October, Nuclear Medicine Week encourages community members to take pride in their profession – recognizing their colleagues for their hard work and promoting nuclear medicine to the entire medical community as well as to the public.
Nuclear Medicine Week allows physicians, technologists, scientists, and others involved in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging to take a proactive role in the advancement of the field. From advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment to recent breakthroughs in Alzheimer's and dementia research, nuclear medicine is improving lives—and it is up to us to educate others on these major healthcare innovations.
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SPECT News
SPECT/CT May Be Better Than Lymphoscintigraphy at Detecting Sentinel Lymph Nodes in Breast Cancer
A single-photon-emission computed tomography camera with integrated computed tomography (SPECT/CT) is better for lymphatic mapping than conventional lymphoscintigraphy in patients with breast cancer, according to study findings reported at the 14th Congress of the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO).
In the study, SPECT/CT aided surgical biopsy planning by detecting the sentinel lymph nodes that were not detected by the conventional imaging technique and by visualising the precise anatomical location of the sentinel nodes.
Iris van der Ploeg, MD, Department of Surgery, Netherlands Cancer Institute and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, Netherlands, discussed the study findings in a presentation on September 12. She remarked that SPECT/CT may improve staging by providing an improved indication of lymph node metastases.
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SPECT News
SPECT/CT Once Again Shows Value in Bone Lesion Location
Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City have found that SPECT/CT is advantageous in determining exact lesion location.
The researchers investigated the efficacy of SPECT/CT in evaluating back pain patients and the modality's value in the workup of those patients. The study is an extension of previous work by co-author Dr. Sherif Heiba in Mount Sinai's division of nuclear medicine.
The retrospective study evaluated 114 patients with back pain. Forty-five men and 69 women with a mean age of 60 years underwent planar imaging and SPECT/CT. Planar, SPECT, and SPECT/CT were separately reviewed by two observers who noted lesion presence, location, and a specific diagnosis for each scan.
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