Volume 6 Issue 3 - Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine

Editorial
Letter to the Editor
Dear Roger and editorial crew of the Ultrasound Bulletin
The article on thyroid ultrasonography is very good -
congrats to the authors and to the publishers who did such
a good job with the images.
You mentioned that you were putting draft worksheets out
for comment. I think that worksheets are very helpful,
especially in teaching institutions where there are frequently
new trainees, registrars, etc.
I can’t comment as can my adult colleagues on the vascular
worksheets except that I think that the two views of the leg
should be labelled as anteroposterior and lateral, if both are
to be used. In fact, I would favor one schematic even if it is
not quite anatomically correct - simpler, and less confusing.
And I would leave more room for comments, including
assessment of difficulty of examination or certainty of
diagnosis. (eg 90 year old diabetic with edematous legs, vs
young female radiologist with legs suitable for a stocking
advertisement!)
Because I am involved in pediatric work, I would encourage
the inclusion on the worksheet of the age of the patient - or
birthdate, as study date is listed. Even in adult work, it is
helpful to know the age of the patient. If there are multiinstitutional
studies, age of the patient is critical. (This
Editor’s reply
Dr Teele has offered some important additions and
modifications to any ultrasound worksheet.
The date of birth is important in many instances and should
be included if not immediately available as an image overlay
from the PACS reporting station. Standardized worksheets
would certainly aid any multi-campus audit or research
comment would also apply to any other worksheets, such
as the vascular ones.)
Also, there is no inclusion of information regarding the
collecting system, nor vascular supply. I’m not a great
advocate of measuring everything, but there might be some
space for measurement of transverse pelvic diameter
(sometimes helpful in pediatrics and in pregnant mothers)
and for a comment re calyces and ureters.
In terms of the vascular supply and drainage—it is not a
routine part of a renal exam, but might be starred as a
consideration when the clinical history is unusual. In
pediatrics, we would look at renal vasculature in premature
infants with aortic catheters and hypertension, with
hematuria, etc. I’ll leave it to the adults to make a list.
There is a great push in many areas of clinical research to
have multi-institutional data and I believe that a simple,
but comprehensive worksheet can be very helpful in
making sure that data collection is uniform and complete
between institutions. In addition, worksheets like this can
be adapted for the final report, particularly on PACS where
the sheet can be scanned.
Best Regards
Rita Teele
project involving collection of ultrasound data. Paediatric
worksheets should always be matched specifically to the
different patholoy and type of examination being
conducted.
Thanks Dr Teele.
Roger Davies
Cont’d from page 2
President to attend the Australian Institute of Company
Directors Diploma course. Council also resolved for every
President Elect to attend and complete the Australian
Institute of Company Directors Diploma course before
becoming President. It was felt that this investment in its
people will have immense benefit for ASUM immediately
and in the long term.
Quality systems are always high on the agenda in the health
care system. Similarly, quality management systems are
important in the management of an organization. The
ASUM Council, at its meeting in May 2003, resolved that
ASUM should pursue accreditation towards the ISO
9001:2000 Australia standard. We are currently investigating
this process.
Registrations are rolling in quickly for the ASUM 2003
Annual Scientific Meeting. I hope to see as many members
attend the ASUM 2003 meeting in Perth and certainly also
hope to see many Australians in Bangkok at our first ASUM
Asia Link Program with MUST in November 2003.
Dr Caroline Hong
Chief Executive Officer
BDS (Uni Adel) GDHA (SA) A) AFCHSE CHE MHA (Uni NSW) FADI FSAE
AE
carolinehong@asum.com.au
4 ASUM ULTRASOUND BULLETIN VOLUME 6 NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2003