A software glitch that led to the display of incorrect patient data has resulted in the shutdown of a data exchange portal that linked information systems operated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Nuclear medicine departments worldwide are again facing the challenge of tight supply for molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) as two major production sites remain offline. Still, there is reason for optimism, as departments learn from previous experiences and when inspiration came from desperation.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Mar 12 - A normal coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan in middle-age appears to have a "warranty period" of about four years, during which the patient is unlikely to develop coronary calcium, U.S. investigators report.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Mar 12 - With small breast cancers, doing complete axillary dissections only for positive sentinel lymph node biopsies (SNLB) yields the same 10-year disease-free survival -- roughly 90% -- as doing routine complete dissections in all cases, researchers say.

ST. CHARLES, MO (Reuters), Mar 12 - President Barack Obama declared on Wednesday the "time for talk is over" and urged the U.S. Congress to vote on healthcare as his health secretary directly challenged insurers to forgo profits to make coverage more affordable.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Mar 11 - Just 38% of patients with suspected cardiac disease are found to have obstructive coronary disease on elective cardiac catheterization, new research shows. This low diagnostic yield suggests that clinical assessments and noninvasive tests are not doing their job in selecting patients for cardiac catheterization.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Mar 11 - Abdominal CT scan seldom detects hepatic metastases from uveal melanoma and may not be indicated for screening, according to a report in the March Archives of Ophthalmology.

An advanced visualization method for virtual colonoscopy could help computer-aided detection (CAD) programs slash false-positive rates, according to researchers from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and colleagues.

In what is believed to be a first in the U.S., radiologists at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Stanford, CA, have used prenatal MRI to detect a rare genetic disease in a newborn.

ST. LOUIS (Reuters Health), Mar 10 - The intensity of surveillance after curative-intent treatment for ovarian cancer is highly variable, according to a survey of gynecologic oncologists. Respondents were asked what they would advise each year for 10 years after initial treatment, including the number of x-rays, CTs, MRIs, and ultrasound exams.

The time is now to integrate medical images into electronic health records, for any hospitals planning healthcare IT upgrades to receive stimulus funds, a PACS implementation expert told attendees last week at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society annual meeting in Atlanta.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Mar 9 - New research suggests that the type of specialist a prostate cancer patient sees -- rather than the patient's own preference -- may determine the treatment he receives.

VIENNA - Compared with the U.S., the U.K. is perhaps not seen as a strongly litigious country, but a new analysis of clinical negligence claims in radiology presented at the European Congress of Radiology reveals a clear rise in recent years in the number and financial burden of malpractice suits.