Background: National guidelines recommend sampling unilateral pleural effusions to characterize the fluid as either transudative or exudative.  Currently, the only method to characterize pleural fluid is by collecting a sample through an invasive drainage procedure that has risks of complications and is uncomfortable for the patient.  Few noninvasive methods have been studied to differentiate exudative [...]

Case Presentation: A 27-year-old G6P4 female at 28 weeks of gestation presented with fever, headache, myalgias, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Medical history was significant for polysubstance use, hepatitis C, anxiety, and depression. On the evening of presentation, she reported new-onset central chest pain. Vitals were significant for rectal temperature 93 F, blood pressure 95/58, and [...]

Background: Patients with cirrhosis and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who have achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) currently undergo indefinite imaging every 6-12 months to screen for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although current research shows there is liver remodeling with regression of fibrosis/cirrhosis after HCV treatment, it is unclear if improvements in the features of cirrhosis [...]

Background: Multiple factors can lead to overuse of diagnostic imaging for venous thromboembolism (VTE). These include fear of missing a potentially fatal diagnosis, low predictive accuracy of clinical gestalt, prediction rules, and risk assessment models for VTE, and increased access to imaging. Diagnostic imaging for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) with doppler ultrasonography, or for pulmonary [...]

Background: Infants ≤ 60 days of age with a urinary tract infection (UTI) are a challenging population. Without clear guidelines for management, there is variability in renal imaging and antibiotic use. Our study examined patterns of renal imaging and antibiotic use in infants ≤ 60 days of age with UTI at a tertiary care children’s [...]

Background: Imaging exams performed on hospitalized patients commonly reveal findings representing possible cancer and requiring follow-up. Our objective was to quantify how often indeterminate or suspicious masses are detected on inpatient abdominal and pelvic imaging exams by exam type and organ. Methods: Our health system uses a standardized coding scheme, similar to the Breast Imaging [...]

Background: Falls are associated with significant morbidity and increased healthcare expenses for hospitalized patients. There are hundreds of thousands of inpatient falls every year. There are multiple validated scores to guide the need of imaging for patients presenting to ED after, but no such score exists for hospitalized patients who suffer a fall event. This [...]

Background: Patients are frequently ordered to fast while hospitalized. Though these “nil per os” (NPO) orders are often placed for sound clinical reasons (e.g. small bowel obstruction), they are also frequently placed in preparation for imaging studies or procedures to reduce the theoretical risk of aspiration. There is often a great deal of confusion among [...]

Background: Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) is a common anatomic modality for detection of cardiac ischemia in the setting of chest pain hospitalizations. However, invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is the gold standard for diagnosing ischemic coronary artery disease. Research showed that CCTA has a high sensitivity but lacks the specificity and accuracy component of Fractional [...]

Background: Myelofibrosis is a chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by progressive bone marrow fibrosis and extramedullary hematopoiesis leading to splenomegaly. Progressive splenomegaly is common in advanced myelofibrosis, and spleen volume is a predictor of survival. The oral selective small-molecule JAK 1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib is used for symptomatic management of intermediate-2 and high-risk myelofibrosis, and leads to [...]