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Steven Seltzer, MD, FACR, chairman of BWH's Department of Radiology, presented at a two-day summit in Bethesda, Md., last month, highlighting radiation safety issues related to CT scans.
"To date, there hasn't been enough standardization at a national level of CT credentialing, regulation or device manufacture," said Seltzer. "In a lot of ways, this summit was the important first step of bringing together key individuals to identify knowledge gaps and determine a unified research agenda to fully address those gaps."
SeltzerÕs presentation focused on BWHÕs use of decision support to optimize the use of CT scans. His remarks were framed by data from a survey he conducted of the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments that indicated 43 percent of respondents felt that patients at their respective institutions were avoiding appropriate medical care because of fears of radiation exposure.
"Clearly our field could have done a better job of addressing these issues sooner and telling people what was being done to minimize their exposure," said Seltzer. "Now, we're trying to keep from tipping too far in the other direction where patients' concerns are leading them to avoid CT procedures that they could benefit from. And the only way we, as scientists, can make our case is if we collect enough data to support our message."
Participants of the summit, which was hosted by the Coalition for Imaging and Bioengineering Research (CIBR) and the National Institutes of Health and co-chaired by Seltzer, represented multiple perspectives on the best way to lower effective radiation doses.
Additional sessions looked at the health care impact and state of the art in CT technology, and opportunities to improve CT dose management, highlighting the importance of dose management to the concept of the personalized CT exam.
Frank Rybicki, MD, director of Cardiac CT and Vascular CT/MRI at BWH, also presented at the summit.