...issue 11 of the thrice-yearly journal for medical imaging professionals worldwide.

Controversies and Consensus in Imaging and Intervention
     Encourages debate and informs:
  • Computed tomography radiologists
  • Interventional cardiologists
  • Interventional radiologists
  • MRI radiologists
  • Radiographers
  • Nurses
  • Pharmacists
  • Practice managers

Website update
Dr Mark Downes
I am pleased to announce that the full text of C2I2 is now available to registered subscribers on the journal website (www.c2i2.com) in advance of publication. Subscribers will receive an email with a link to the website when a new issue is available and before the printed version is distributed. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of visits to the website – up from about 350 to over 1200 per month – following the first email alert that was sent out in April.

Clinical updates
  • This issue has a major focus on CT. The first two papers review the potential applications of chest CT for comprehensive evaluation of the coronary arteries, pulmonary arteries and aorta in patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain. The evolution of contrast medium injection protocols for CT angiography is also covered in this issue. The latest CT scanners are fostering a new approach with individualised injection protocols (based on physiological and pharmacokinetic principles) that determine the appropriate scanning protocol.

  • Medical practice is becoming more and more evidence based and depends on integrating clinical expertise with the best available clinical evidence. Although randomised controlled clinical trials are not the only source of evidence, they are the 'gold standard' for assessment of the efficacy and safety of an intervention. Consequently, we are including a more general article on the design and interpretation of clinical trials, the first of an occasional educational series addressing medical topics of broad interest.


In this issue...
  • Dr Charles White of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA presents an overview of recent advances in the use of CT to evaluate cardiac and non-cardiac causes of chest pain in the emergency setting, together with recent experience of a comprehensive protocol.
  • Dr Will Roberts and colleagues at the London Chest Hospital, London, UK, discuss the potential implications of the wider use of coronary artery CT and triple protocols from a UK perspective.
  • Dr Natalie Ives from the University of Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit, Birmingham, UK, discusses clinical trials and evidence-based medicine from a CTU perspective and provides insights into the design of the ASTRAL trial of revascularisation for renal stenosis.
  • Dr Dominik Fleischmann of the Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California, USA, reviews the current approach to the design of injection protocols and scanning protocols for CT angiography.

We hope that you will enjoy reading this issue of C2I2 and that you will find the content useful in your clinical practice.


08-2006 BUY1145050/JB2199/MB001932/CMC 11th edition