Osteomyelitis – diagnosis is not always straight forward

26th November 2019

The symptoms of acute osteomyelitis include pain, swelling, warmth and redness over the affected part. Sometimes, there are systemic signs of fever and fatigue. Plain xrays may review osteolytic lesions, periosteal reaction or may be totally normal. Sometimes, we may need to resort to MRI to clinch the diagnosis. This month’s case illustrate the difficulty with diagnosis when the symptoms and signs are not straight forward.…

Prostate Artery Embolisation

PAE is an embolisation procedure. It is a new application of a longstanding tried and tested technology. Embolisation is the deliberate occlusion of vessels in the body, in this case the arteries to the prostate.  The objective of PAE is to stem the blood flow to the prostate, targeting the enlarging tissue and rendering it ischaemic (reduced supply of oxygenated blood).…

Diagnosis of breast invasive ductal carcinoma – a case study

26th September 2019. Spectrum Medical Imaging

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women. In 2019, it is estimated that 19,535 Australians will be diagnosed with breast cancer. However it is important to remember that most women survive breast cancer. Diagnosis of breast cancer patients in early stages is one of important aspects of breast cancer treatment. Among of many diagnostic platforms, imaging techniques are main diagnostic approaches which could provide valuable data on patients with breast cancer.…

Pain Management – getting straight to the point

Spectrum Medical Imaging, Liverpool

Different surgical procedures are used to treat patients who do not improve with non-operative therapies. Rapid deterioration is uncommon and symptoms often wax and wane or gradually improve. Surgery is almost always elective and considered only if sufficiently bothersome symptoms persist despite trials of less invasive interventions. Outcomes (leg pain and disability) seem to be better for surgery than for non-operative treatment, but the evidence is heterogeneous and often of limited quality.…

Abbreviated breast MRI – what is it?

22nd June 2019, Spectrum Medical Imaging

Dynamic contrast enhanced breast – MRI must contain a minimal number of MRI sequences that is necessary to detect small enhancing breast lesions. What if we cut down the number of sequences but yet have enough accuracy to detect small early cancers? That’s what AB-MRI is – less number of sequences but yet enough to detect small lesions. …

Paediatric intracranial tumours – ordering the right test

A meningioma is a benign tumour that arises from the meninges. Meningiomas are often slow-growing, however in some instances, they may be fast-growing and their effects on adjacent brain tissue, nerves or vessels may cause serious disability. Timely access to a Bulk Billable MRI scan can enable a quick diagnosis and appropriate referral for neurosurgery without the patient requiring a CT scan with the associated ionizing radiation, especially relevant given the patient’s age.…

The role of breast MRI in breast cancer detection

Many countries now recommend annual MRI screening in conjunction with mammography for high risk groups. The only problem is that different countries define high risk differently. Medicare item 63464 can be used for the surveillance and diagnosis of women under 50 years of age at high risk of developing breast cancer, and who have no signs or symptoms of the disease.…

Case Study – man with increasing neck pain for one month

44-year-old male with 1 month of increasing neck pain was referred for a cervical spine injection. A CT scan of the cervical spine two weeks prior (Figure A), revealed foraminal narrowing at the C5-6 level. There was a significant difference between the new scan and the previous scan. There was severe destruction of the C5-6 disc and of the adjacent C5 and C6 vertebral end plates with retrolisthesis of C5 on C6.

Undiagnosed pelvic pain – is it pelvic congestion syndrome?

22nd December 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

Endometriosis is the most frequently diagnosed condition in women with chronic pelvic pain. What if they can’t find endometriosis on laparoscopy? In 60% of women with chronic pelvic pain, the cause remained unknown. A significant proportion of these women may suffer from pelvic congestion syndrome (PVC). Is this one of those “idiopathic” type condition which is diagnosed when all tests are negative?…

Metallic implants/prosthesis – are they MRI safe?

28th October 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

Metallic objects, implants or prosthesis can render magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unsafe or affect the quality of the images. Our patients who have metallic joint prosthesis in-situ not uncommonly require further imaging. This can pose a bit of a challenge as many of the same patient population who require the joint replacement are the same population of patient that require further imaging.…

3D Mammogram – is there a role in clinical practice?

30th September, 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

There is no question that screening mammograms have led to a decline in late stage breast cancers. There have been a gradual decrease in breast cancer mortality, at least partly, due to the introduction of screening mammograms over the last 25 years. But screening mammograms are not perfect. In women with dense breast tissue, the sensitivity of mammogram decreases.…

Non-invasive prenatal screening – A package deal

Increasingly, women are now requesting non invasive prenatal screening. Spectrum Medical Imaging now offers a comprehensive non-invasive prenatal screening at Liverpool.

For patient convenience, they provide pre-test discussion, a viability/dating scan, GeneStyle NIPS and 13 week structural scan. NIPS results are available within 5 days. Genetic counselling for NIPS if required post test.

Click here for more details.…