This report originally appeared in the January 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News.

This year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, held November 29 to December 4 at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center was a feast for the eyes - and minds - of attendees and exhibitors from around the world.

As far as numbers go, RSNA organizers say more than 55,000 people registered to attend, but actual traffic numbers will not be released until early next year. This year more than 1,750 scientific papers and 1,700 educational exhibits were presented, and the exhibit hall spanned more than 450,000 square feet, with 700-plus booths packed with products ranging from radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, informatics, and much more. The theme of the 95th RSNA was "Quality Counts" and outgoing RSNA president Dr. Gary J. Becker addressed attendees during the opening session with some words about health care reform and other industry concerns.

"Quality-both our definition of it and our commitment to it-will be a key factor in determining our future," he said. "The nation has awakened to medical error and grown intolerant of waste, weary of fragmented health care delivery, and impatient with a system that not only doesn't serve them well, but often seems designed to serve providers."

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force's (USPSTF) proposed changes to the current mammography screening recommendations was one of the top issues being discussed at the Annual Meeting. The RSNA Informational Committee held a special conference paneled by some of the world's leading experts in screening mammography. Among the panelists was Dr. Stephen Feig, professor of radiology and director of breast imaging at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. Dr. Feig is also president-elect of the American Society of Breast Disease and a renowned expert on radiation risk.

"Screening mammography represents one of the great medical achievements of our time," said Dr. Feig. "Mammography, although not perfect, is the most effective means we have today for the early detection and cure of breast cancer. We have over four decades of clinical research studies on screening mammography, and we know from these studies that women who are screened may have their risk of death from breast cancer reduced by as much as 40 to 50 percent. We also know women need to start screening at age 40 and need to be screened every single year. We know that radiation dose from current mammographic technique is extremely low. It keeps getting lower, and that the risk is negligible compared to the proven benefit of screening mammography."

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