Why is it called aunt minnie

Felton even took classes in the University of Cincinnati's department of education to learn how to teach others about radiology and spotting Aunt Minnie. Throughout the years, countless radiologists have spotted Aunt Minnie in their daily practices. In , two doctors published an example of an Aunt Minnie in which a pediatrician had suspected a child of having been battered. The doctor took a series of x-rays of the child and showed them to a radiologist. The radiologist looked at the x-rays and told the doctor that the child had leukemia.

The doctor protested, saying that the child's blood tests were normal. The radiologist shrugged and said, "It's an Aunt Minnie. Seeing Aunt Minnie is not always a bad thing, though. Experienced radiologists can often tell the difference between a serious problem and something harmless.

In many cases, seeing Aunt Minnie at your doorstep is a good thing. Radiologists look at hundreds of x-ray, CT scan , MRI , and ultrasound images over the course of a week — or even in a day! So how do they sift through all of the normal "negative" images to find the sometimes small but very significant anomaly that indicates a problem? Training, experience and advances in technology help radiologists spot Aunt Minnie when she shows up at their door.

Experience and training helps radiologists recognize "good" Aunt Minnies and "bad" Aunt Minnies at a glance. Putting these technological advances in the hands of highly trained and experienced radiology professionals yields more Aunt Minnies than ever before. Call Us Today Call Us Today. Ultrasound Ultrasound Thyroid Biopsy. Mammography 3D Mammography Tomosynthesis. Interventional Radiology The following procedures are performed by our Interventional Radiology team at designated hospitals.

Biopsy General Biopsy. Who or What is Aunt Minnie? Monday, 18 November RAI Marketing. So who is Aunt Minnie? The better question might be, "What is an Aunt Minnie? The Story behind Radiology's Aunt Minnie. Which Sports are Associated with the Most Injures? International Coalition of Radiologists Call for E About the author.

Bonitto Daley. Monday, 19 July What is Ischemic Colitis? I understand and agree Direct Link. The term Aunt Minnie is shorthand for a classic, often pathognomonic , radiological appearance of a diagnosis. Originally, the term Aunt Minnie referred to a radiological diagnosis made by gestalt The Aunt Minnie approach was explained by analogy: if you knew well your aunt named Minnie, then you would easily recognize her in a crowd of similar women.

The recognition would be difficult to articulate to someone who has never seen your aunt Minnie before. Similarly, an experienced radiologist may immediately recognize a constellation of imaging findings as characteristic of a particular diagnosis, often unexpected or uncommon. This recognition is based on prior experience and either defies or obviates more rational analysis, such as deductive reasoning through a differential diagnosis.

Though obvious to the experienced reader, the relationship is difficult to unpack for an inexperienced reader. Over time, with efforts to describe salient features of these entities for educational purposes, the term Aunt Minnie has been broadened somewhat. In the current sense, an Aunt Minnie means any classic constellation of findings, which should immediately raise a specific diagnosis Subsequently it was popularized by the renowned Cincinnati chest radiologist Benjamin Felson 6 , in his classic tome, Fundamentals of Chest Roentgenology 1,2.

Often the coining is misattributed to Felson. Nobody has known of an aunt or other relative of either Neuhauser or Felson called Minnie, including—somewhat ironically—the authors of the book Aunt Minnie's Atlas and Imaging-specific Diagnosis 3,5,8. Please Note: You can also scroll through stacks with your mouse wheel or the keyboard arrow keys. Updating… Please wait. Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

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