RSNA 2009 Meeting Preview - Radiological Society of North America

ANNOUNCEMENTS
RSNA Named Among Top Innovators
RSNA has been named one of five
Innovators of 2009 by Association
Meetings. The magazine singled out
association professionals, who, “even
during this difficult economy, were able
to look at their meetings with fresh eyes
and find new ways to drive attendance,
create a better educational environment
and use the latest technologies to
deliver a better experience for attendees
and exhibitors at their conferences.”
RSNA Technical Exhibit Services
PET Series Named SNM
Image of the Year
A PET image series illustrating
nuclear medicine therapy response
in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma
has been named SNM’s
Image of the Year.
The series is two sets of
before-and-after scans from two
patients treated for non-Hodgkin
lymphoma. One patient received
iodine-131 tositumomab (Bexxar ® );
the other received yttrium-90 ibritumomab
tiuxetan (Zevalin ® ). The PET
images reveal that both patients showed
no metabolically active non-Hodgkin
lymphoma three months after treatment.
“This image is really remarkable
because it shows two positive benefits
of molecular imaging and nuclear medicine
at the same time,” said Henry N.
Director Tom Shimala accepted the
honor on behalf of RSNA.
The magazine touted RSNA’s successful
efforts to evenly distribute
attendee traffic so that vendor booths
received maximum exposure, as well
as the addition of Bistro RSNA, which
provides a convenient, high-quality
dining option in each exhibit hall.
Read the full profile at meetings
net.com/tradeshows/am_innovators
_080109.
Wagner Jr., SNM past-president and
professor at The Johns Hopkins University
Bloomberg School of Public Health
in Baltimore, who annually selects the
SNM Image of the Year from thousands
presented at the society’s annual meeting.
“First, the PET scans demonstrate
the power of radioimmunotherapy to
Restart of Canadian Reactor Planned for Early 2010
Shut down since late May due to a
water leak, the National Research Universal
(NRU) reactor at the Atomic
Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
Chalk River Laboratory in Ontario is
expected to restart in early 2010.
The NRU reactor provides half of
the U.S. supply of the molybendum-99
radioisotope (Mo-99). About 80 percent
of the 16 million nuclear medicine
procedures performed annually in the
U.S. use technetium-99m, made from
the decay of Mo-99. AECL has signed
a protocol agreement with the Canadian
Nuclear Safety Commission to execute
safe repairs and restart the reactor.
The shuttering of the 52-year-old
reactor has compounded the global
radioisotope shortage that could impede
nuclear medicine procedures (see
“Medical Isotope Shortage Threatens
Patient Care,” RSNA News, June 2009).
Meanwhile, the High Flux Reactor in
Petten, Netherlands, which unexpectedly
shut down briefly in August, is
scheduled for another planned mainte-
fight advanced cases of non-Hodgkin
lymphoma,” said Wagner. “In addition,
this is proof of how PET scans are indispensable
tools for managing patient care
and determining whether treatments are
working as intended.”
For more information, visit snm.org.
nance shutdown in early 2010.
AECL continues to post status
reports on NRU’s repair. “The duration
of the shutdown continues to be
founded on the best evidence available,
including the most up-to-date analysis
of the heavy water leak site, vessel
condition, repair strategies and critical
path requirements for restart after an
extended shutdown,” according to a
recent statement. Updates can be found
at nrucanada.ca.
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