Imaging community to celebrate International Day of Radiology

“Last year more than 140 radiology-related professional societies from around the world celebrated the International Day of Radiology and we hope to see even more joining the initiative and bringing even more momentum to this already fast-growing movement,” said Prof. Katrine Riklund, Chair of the ESR Board of Directors. This year the day is dedicated to breast imaging and the essential role that radiology plays in the detection, diagnosis and management of diseases of the breast.

The initiative is also supported by the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI) and the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI). Both organisations have contributed to various IDoR activities to help stress the significance of radiology in breast healthcare. The involvement of the radiation protection campaigns EuroSafe Imaging and Image Wisely reflects another key objective of the organisers, i.e. to raise awareness of the necessity of using appropriate radiation doses in medical imaging.

“Mammography is a fast, widely available, accurate, cheap and acceptably harmful method for diagnosis and screening of breast cancer. The main aim of mammographic screening is to reduce the mortality from breast cancer,” stated Prof. Boris Brkljačić, Chair of the ESR Communications and External Affairs Committee, who is a specialist in breast imaging and closely involved in the EuroSafe Imaging campaign. “The benefit of early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer far outweighs the risk of the small amount of radiation received during a screening mammogram. The general conclusion of the IARC (International Agency on Research of Cancer) working group confirmed that the probability of saving a life by early detection with screening is at least 100 times greater than the probability of death caused by the radiation from screening. Mammography screening has been considered one of the major medical advances of the past decades, and women need to be provided with the important information that mammography saves lives and that the radiation risk is minimal.”

To inform the general public about the latest developments in breast imaging and in particular screening, and to provide a comprehensive overview of the modalities and technologies used, the ESR has published a book, Screening & Beyond: Medical Imaging in the Detection, Diagnosis and Management of Breast Diseases, in cooperation with EUSOBI and the SBI. Further significant contributions to this publication have been supplied by the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer (ECIBC), the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR), and Europa Donna – The European Breast Cancer Coalition. An interview with a radiographer, initiated through the ESR’s collaboration with the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS), underlines the importance of teamwork between radiologists and radiographers in this particular field of imaging.

The ESR has also conducted interviews with experts in breast imaging from sixteen European countries, and with specialists from Australia, Latin America, South Africa and the United States, providing an overview of the status quo of screening and treatments in these regions.

Numerous activities to celebrate the International Day of Radiology 2016 are planned by societies, institutions and individuals working in the field of imaging all over the world. To keep up with the International Day of Radiology on social media, visit the official IDoR Facebook page and follow the hashtag #IDoR2016 on Twitter.

13.10.2016

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• imaging (1537)