The second Wednesday of each month is set aside for the Vascular Ultrasound Conference which covers various aspects of vascular diseases and how Doppler and duplex are used to diagnose these diseases. The General Ultrasound Conference is held the 4th Wednesday each month. The Renal and Hypertension Imaging Conference deals with the diagnosis of renal disease with Ultrasound, CT, MR, Nuclear Scintigraphy and Angiography. It is held the 3rd Wednesday of odd-numbered months. There are usually 20-25 people in attendance including attendings, residents, ultrasound technologists, and ultrasound students.
Visitors are welcome.
The conferences are held in Room 16 in the Radiology Department at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center. In the U.S., physicians order approximately 135,000 thyroglobulin tests and 25,000 radioiodine imaging whole body scans each year for thyroid cancer patients. However, a high level of TSH in a patient's bloodstream is necessary in order for radioiodine imaging to detect remnant thyroid tissue or metastatic disease and to achieve optimal sensitivity of serum thyroglobulin testing. Therefore, patients must stop taking their hormone supplements for two to six weeks prior to testing . This thyroid hormone withdrawal causes patients to experience fatigue, weight gain, constipation, mental dullness, lethargy, depression, and other adverse reactions.