Abdominal Radiology Group Australia and New Zealand (ARGANZ)

The ARGANZ Annual Meeting was held on 27–28 March at the Brisbane Convention Centre as a hybrid meeting which attracted more than 400 delegates with a satellite hub in Auckland. The international speakers comprised Prof Claude Sirlin, Prof Seong Ho Park and Dr Jonathan Richenberg who focused on liver, rectal and prostate/scrotal imaging respectively. They were supported by local experts who thoroughly covered a variety of topics with speakers frequently paired with a radiologist discussing the imaging and a clinician providing their unique insights and perspectives.

Feedback from the meeting was overwhelmingly positive and the option of virtual attendance embraced with around 30 per cent of delegates attending the meeting for the first time and discovering why ARGANZ has a regular returning audience.

A survey conducted during the meeting examined various work practices and has revealed some interesting results. For example, over two thirds of delegates indicated that they routinely use dynamic contrast images for prostate MRI. Of concern however, 60 per cent of radiologists reporting prostate MRI state that they ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ receive feedback regarding their reports.

While the reasons for lack of feedback were not explored, feedback will in part rely on a relationship with the referring doctor and access to biopsy and prostatectomy reports. This lack of histologic correlation is an educational obstacle and shows a clear need for high quality, clinically relevant resources that radiologists can easily access.

For these reasons ARGANZ intends to offer a higher frequency of workshops targeting areas such as prostate and rectal MRI. Dates for these will be announced on the ARGANZ website and social media as well as email notification to ARGANZ members. All College Fellows are welcome to join ARGANZ, membership is free and gives access to educational events, protocols, reporting templates as well as links to other abdominal societies.

The use of Liver Imaging Reporting and Data Systems (LIRADS) has been increasing with around 40 per cent of delegates using it routinely, although the majority still use one of the many other diagnostic systems. Prof Sirlin’s talk on LIRADS was excellent and he demonstrated the superior specificity and reliability of LIRADS compared with many other guidelines, and so it will be interesting to see if this leads to wider adoption in the future.

Sixty-three per cent of delegates indicated that they attend one or fewer abdominal multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs) per fortnight. These MDMs provide a valuable educational opportunity to hear from other specialists and keep abreast of evolving practice.

A mock MDM has become a staple feature of the ARGANZ program allowing the audience to hear from surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists as well as expert interventional and diagnostic radiologists. These sessions are always rated highly by delegates, are entertaining and will continue to be part of future ARGANZ programs.

ARGANZ 2022 will be held in the International Convention Centre in Sydney on 26–27 March. The Executive committee is currently putting together an exciting program with a variety of speakers designed to appeal to both abdominal subspecialist and general radiologist delegates.

Twitter: @arganz_online