CCSNM 2007 Spring Meeting
March 9-11, 2007
Feinberg Pavilion Conference Center
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL

Meeting Presentations

Mark your calendar for the 2007 Annual Spring Meeting of the Central Chapter scheduled for March 9-11, 2007 at the Feinberg Pavilion Conference Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago with hotel rooms at the Allerton Crowne Plaza. Preliminary program title is Transitioning from Nuclear Medicine to Molecular Imaging: Are we really ready? Doctor Robert S. Hellman, MD, from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee is chairing the program with Gary L. Dillehay, MD and Nancy McDonald, from Northwestern in Chicago serving as co-chairs.

Nuclear Medicine is evolving, and new technological advances are driving this evolution. Development of new radiopharmaceuticals, camera technology, and computer software is transitioning nuclear medicine from a functional imaging modality to a molecular imaging modality. Fusion with other imaging modalities is providing the profession with much excitement and with that excitement, unlimited growth potential.

As the profession merges with these other imaging specialties, a host of practice issues have arisen, causing many to question whether our current standards, programs, methods and curricula, can adapt to keep up with such advancing technologies. Outdated and weak or non-existent state and federal standards are creating barriers to the growth of multi-modality imaging.

The 2007 Annual Spring Meeting is designed to share the trials and tribulations that the profession is facing as we experience this most exciting transition of nuclear medicine through molecular imaging. We will take you on a journey highlighting the past and present of nuclear medicine and introduce you to how nuclear medicine is transforming through the development of molecular medicine. This program is sure to provide physicians, technologists, pharmacists, and scientists alike with insight into these exciting technological advances, along with the barriers that are stunting the pace of this formidable transition. Learn how you can help prepare for this inevitable transition.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this meeting, the attendees will be able to:

• Understand that the profession of nuclear medicine is transitioning from a functional to a molecular imaging modality.
  
• Identify the barriers to this transition.
  
• Discuss the recent as well as the future advances in camera, radiopharmaceutical, and software technology.
  
• Describe the latest in SPECT/CT and PET/CT protocols and procedures.
  
• Evaluate PET/CT and SPECT/CT cases with the experts.
  
• Understand the components of a comprehensive contrast management program, including the pharmacology, contraindications, and protocols for contrast administration, as well as documentation and monitoring of extravasations, and reactions.
  
• Discuss the recent updates in Coding and Reimbursement of nuclear medicine procedures.
  
• Understand the initiatives of the SNM and CC, as explained by the leadership of both levels of the organization.
  
• Identify the potential of MIBG in nuclear cardiology
  
• Understand how this transition is going to impact bread and butter nuclear medicine.