NEWSWORTHY NOTES 
 Dr. Elaine Lewis
Dr. Elaine Lewis has been named Chief of the Section of Diagnostic Radiology. In this position, Dr. Lewis will provide clinical leadership to 20 physicians who utilize advanced technology to assist in the diagnosis of disease and injury. Diagnostic radiology services are provided 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
A member of The Reading Hospital and Medical Center's Medical Staff since 1990, Dr. Lewis is in practice with West Reading Radiology Associates. Dr. Lewis is a graduate of the Medical College of Pennsylvania, and completed her undergraduate studies in biochemistry at Albright College.
64-Slice CT Scanner comes to Reading
West Reading Radiology Associates (WRRA) is excited about the acquisition of a new 64-slice CT scanner. This new high-tech tool allows an efficient and non-invasive evaluation of the heart, lungs and arteries as well as a host of other application as well. The primary focus of the 64-slice CT scanner is its application for cardiac studies. Its fast acquisition speed enables us to look at the coronary arteries to evaluate anatomy and locate blockages as well as evaluate the actual heart function. Scans of the patient’s heart can be performed in seconds. The patient now only has to hold their breath for ten seconds or less to achieve scans with superior resolution. Patients can return to home or work shortly after the procedure and resume all of their normal activities. In addition to the initial cardiac work-up, the scanner can also be used to non-invasively follow patients after angioplasty, placement of stents or who are placed on certain statin drugs to see if these therapies are having their desired effect. The new technology is not limited to cardiac care. It will also provide enhanced stroke identification and management, advanced lung-analysis, and detect primary metastatic cancer via 3-dimentional reconstruction. Future applications include enhancing diagnosis in the emergency department, with the ED physician able to determine quickly if someone is truly experiencing a heart attack. It will also help with the detection of bone and soft tissue damage in trauma patients. The scanner is very patient friendly. Due to its short bore (rather than the longer, narrow enclosed cylinder) and its short scan time, most claustrophobic patient have no problems being scanned in the machine. The short acquisition time is also a real bonus for pediatric patients who often move during longer scans, resulting in the need for sedation. Obviously all this advanced technology is irrelevant without the expertise to interpret what it produces. WRRA radiologists are trained in cross-sectional imaging and can evaluate cardiac function and coronary artery plaque while assessing the thoracic structure for other diseases. This training can help determine whether a patient's symptoms are truly cardiac in nature or the result of some other cause: pulmonary embolism, aneurysm, aortic dissection, or even atypical pneumonia. Our cross-sectional imaging expertise allows us to differentiate among various abnormalities to ensure optimal patient care. West Reading Radiology Associates Funds Radiology Research  WEST READING, Pennsylvania (October 2, 2006) - Once again West Reading Radiology Associates has made a commitment to the support of research and education in radiology with a donation of $10,000 to the Radiological Society of North America’s (RSNA) Research and Education Foundation. West Reading Radiology Associates’ contribution to the RSNA foundation will be used to fund research into the early detection and diagnosis of disease.
Visionaries In Practice (VIP), a program of the RSNA Research and Education Foundation, was created to provide private practice groups a vehicle for supporting radiology research. West Reading Radiology Associates is one of the first private practice organizations to participate. "West Reading Radiology Associates sees the support of academic radiology as a crucial component in assuring the future of high quality diagnostic imaging," said Brent J. Wagner, M.D., West Reading's president and Chairman of the Radiology Department at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center. "The advances made in medical imaging, including amazing refinements in MRI, CT scans, and PET scans over the past decade, have been possible only as a result of the contributions of basic and clinical research of academic radiologists and their departments," Dr Wagner said. "West Reading Radiology feels a responsibility to invest in this continued development." “Practices such as West Reading Radiology Associates and their individual members are truly ‘visionary’ in their support of the future of our profession through the RSNA Research and Education Foundation,” said William T. Thorwarth Jr., M.D., chairman of the VIP Program Subcommittee. “We are at a critical time when all radiologists must share this same vision and commitment.” Since its inception in 1984, the RSNA Research and Education Foundation has awarded more than $21 million in grant support to nearly 530 investigators. Each dollar donated to the Research and Education Foundation typically results in an additional nine dollars worth of grant awards from other research organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to Dr. Thorwarth. West Reading Radiology Associates exists to provide high quality community-appropriate diagnostic imaging services to Berks County and its surrounding communities. The practice is a specialty healthcare group dedicated to offering quality imaging services. West Reading Radiology Associates has been Berks County's largest radiology group since 1970, and is comprised of 22 radiologists and two radiologist assistants. The group’s physicians are all board certified and have diverse training and subspecialty expertise. West Reading Radiology Associates offers a full range of diagnostic radiology services including computed tomography (CT), ultrasound, conventional and open magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), mammography and women’s imaging services, nuclear medicine, bone densitometry and positron emission tomography (PET). RSNA is an association of more than 38,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to promoting excellence in radiology through education and by fostering research, with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.  The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine elected Brent J.
Wagner, M.D., Director, Radiology, to senior membership. Dr. Wagner also
traveled to the Japanese College of Radiology in Kobe to lecture on ovarian
neoplasm in imaging and adrenal radiologic-pathologic correlation.
Click Here to link to the AMA Web site with info on the new AMA/ACR publication (with a free issue). | 
