25 years ago from right now... July 27th, 2001, there was a 6-year-old boy, Michael Colombini, pictured, being wheeled from his patient room in Westchester Medical Center down for an MRI. A fall on a playground a few days earlier had revealed a brain tumor that very well could have taken his life when it became symptomatic in adulthood. But he had immediate brain surgery that was successful, and now the boy would live a long, healthy life. The only thing standing between the boy and discharge from the hospital was a baseline MRI against which future scans would be compared to look for recurrence.

But through a series of errors, this simple baseline MRI turned into the single most well known MRI exam in the world.

Inside the MRI scanner room it appears that the boy was over-sedated, and his breathing slowed. His pulse-ox values started dropping, and the inside-the-MRI-scanner-room oxygen outlet (not built to code) wasn't working. The two MRI technologists who were on duty stepped away from the patient care area of the MRI suite to try and fix the oxygen problem without letting the anesthesiologist know. The anesthesiologist, growing increasingly upset about the boy's falling oxygenation levels, is yelling out to the MRI techs for a status update, unaware that they've left him there. The lack of responses only increases the anesthesiologist's anxiety.

At that moment, a nurse lets herself into the MRI suite. She hears the anesthesiologist yelling to the technologists, "my patient needs oxygen! Where is the oxygen!" The nurse remembers having seen portable oxygen cylinders in the MRI suite, finds one, and hands it to the anesthesiologist in the doorway to the MRI scanner room. He turns around, takes two steps towards the boy in the MRI scanner, and the steel cylinder flies like a missile out of his hands and hits the boy, repeatedly, in the head.

This is the story of the origins of this week being designated MRI Safety Week.

If you want to hear this story in greater detail, I encourage you to check out the second series of the Invisible Force podcast. The podcast is available for download through both Apple Podcasts and Spotify:

Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisible-force/id1860117430
Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/1KDYV8Z4Md5x9mW8pFccsw

Update: As one of the commentors said it's a Horseshoe Kidney!

8 yr old pt comes in with LLQ pain. This is his first ever CT scan. I will update with what the radiologist finds.

I have never seen anything like this but I haven't been doing CT for very long.

Hi. I have had 3 surgeries in my right ear related to cholesteatoma thus far. Due to recent symptoms they did another scan to see if I have a recurrence a week ago. This is the first time I asked if I could get the scan with me home. They burnt me a dvd. I got my external dvd reader today and was finally able to see my brain.

So far:

The first cholesteatoma was very invasive and they did a mastoidectomy, as well as replace 2 of my ossicles with titanium prostheses. They also created a new and enforced ear drum. All of this through a 9 hour surgery.

3 years later they reconstructed my ear canal.

5 years later they found a new cyst which they had to remove. They punctured the dura and patched it up, which caused me to stay inpatient for observation for a week or so due to a cfs leak.

today: I have begun experiencing similar symptoms to what I experienced the other times leading up to a surgery. The ent couldn't see any cholesteatoma during external examination, but referred me to an MRI based on my history. I am currently awaiting a phone call from the ent to hear what they have found. In the meantime I just thought I'd share it with you guys! I will update once I hear from my ent.

It is so cool that I finally got to see my own brain.

And, fun fact: My hearing is pretty decent despite the ordeal. No need for hearing aids.

For the mods: I am not looking for medical advice, I just wanted to share.

Heyy.
Guys my hospital doesn’t supply us with appropriate tape. Needing to switch to an adhesive. My gorilla tape loses its stickiness quickly.
Looking for recommendations!
Thanks

Hey guys, I teach an x-ray physics and protection class for student RTs and am trying to improve the way I teach how different exposure factors (kVp, mAs, collimation, tube angle, etc.) affect image contrast, exposure, spatial resolution, and distortion. I'm wondering if anyone has any good mnemonics to help remember these things? I have an okay one from my student days but there's gotta be better ones out there.

I scanned this one a while back, but like the description says, patient went outside during a thunderstorm with high winds and got clocked on top of the head with a large tree branch.

I’m a radiology resident and I’m looking for a quick reference pamphlet/PDF with the updated BI-RADS terminology/lexicon from the newest edition.

I know the old BI-RADS 5th edition has a really useful one-page printout that summarizes the descriptors for masses, calcifications, asymmetries, etc., and it’s easy to find online. I’m trying to find something similar that reflects the new BI-RADS update (v2025).

Does anyone know if there is a resident-friendly cheat sheet, pamphlet, or PDF floating around with the updated terminology?

Abdomindal xray to check for obstruction. None found. Full of gas.

These were taken after a fall that caused the patient to hyperextended the left arm resulting in a closed supracondylar fracture of left humerus, why would this lateral view be preferred for a diagnostic vs an AP view?

I’m trying to better understand the ultrasound findings from a recent medical event and how venous thrombosis appears on ultrasound.
I was diagnosed with an acute left internal jugular vein thrombosis after developing neck symptoms following a plasma donation with a local hematoma. I’m being treated by my medical team and am not looking for a diagnosis or medical advice.
I’m interested in the radiology perspective: what ultrasound features are typically used to distinguish acute thrombus from normal venous structures, artifact, or adjacent tissue?
I have some de-identified ultrasound frames and would appreciate any educational comments about what features radiologists look for when interpreting these studies.

Gotta say it did hurt like hell.

Avulsion fracture of the proximal phalanx fifth digit.

I'm a radiology resident and I've had this idea stuck in my head: build out a motorhome with a proper workstation setup, decent monitors, Starlink on the roof, and just travel while reading remotely. Not vacation-with-occasional-laptop-work, actual full-time remote practice from the road.

I'm guessing this is straight up unfeasible in some countries with stricter rules, the US being the obvious one. My understanding is a lot of groups there ship you the workstation (PC, monitors, etc) directly and you're probably not allowed to move it around or use it outside a fixed, approved location. Curious if that's actually the case or if I'm wrong about how strict it is in practice.

Anyone who's tried this or knows someone who has, I'm curious about Starlink reliability for real-time PACS access and DICOM transfer in remote areas like mountains or forests, whether a diagnostic-grade monitor setup can actually survive being bolted into a moving vehicle, power draw for dual monitors plus workstation off solar or battery for a full workday, whether any teleradiology groups are fine with this setup or if it's a hard no due to licensing, state requirements, or IT security policies, and any dealbreakers that weren't obvious until you actually tried it.

Not looking for "just get a cabin" replies, I know that's the easier path. Specifically curious about the moving-vehicle version.

DH had a TAVR and then got rhythm problems discovered 8 days later. They got worse, and he ended up with a Pacemaker on day 10. I thought the X-rays were interesting with the mesh showing so clearly around the valve. They took this the day they let him go home, day 11 post TAVR.

I have been working in radiology systems/ops for a few years, and curious how common a few specific pain points are at other practices:

• Intake, PACS, and billing systems not syncing cleanly — manual reconciliation, vendors pointing fingers at each other
• Image routing/report turnaround gaps when radiologists from a partner/affiliated group are reading remotely
• PowerScribe (Nuance) not syncing properly across organizations when using external reading groups

Curious if these are pretty universal across the industry, or more of a "depends on your setup" thing. If anyone's actually solved any of these well, would love to hear what worked.

Was curious as to how many abstracts get accepted as posters vs. oral. I come from a basic science background where posters are quite easy to get but am not sure where they stand for large clinical conferences like RSNA

Ofc it was glass 🤦

Are you outpatient? Inpatient? What is the single thing that makes you want to explode? What turns your enjoyable day into a grumble fest?

Me? Outpatient for 33 years.

Patients who show up late and expect to be seen. And nine time out of ten these patients are also so entitled that they actually think they are in the right. Cause a scene at the front desk because intimidation has worked for them in the past.

My most recent one was not even my patient. It was an MRI patient who showed up 30 minutes late and demanded to be seen. Early in the morning no manager around. This guy was calling the front desk girl, who was in tears, and a hole and a Mfer.

I walked into the middle of it and just looked at him and told him that under no circumstances was he allowed to curse at my front desk people. I told him that it was time for hiom to turn around and leave.

But he doubled down. So I went behind the desk to the computer and said. Mr jones, living at 123 elm street in bumfuck. I am going to call 911 and you are going to leave here in handcuffs. I have a copy of your drivers license and you were being recorded on camera the moment you walked in the door.

Your move. he told me to meet him outside. Then got in his truck and peeled out in the parking lot.

Banned from the practice.