Clinical Divisions - Pediatric Imaging

The Emory Division of Pediatric Radiology provides services to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at both its Egleston and Hughes Spalding locations. The NICU at Grady Memorial Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown are also serviced. With a staff of eleven radiologists, more than 100,000 pediatric examinations are read from the four covered hospitals, as well as four outpatient immediate-care locations. Interventional radiology and some neuroradiology coverage are provided by the respective divisions of the Department of Radiology. Pediatric radiology covers: general radiography, fluoroscopy, CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, PET, and MR imaging. The recent renovation at the Egleston campus has expanded space to include two nuclear medicine rooms, a Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) room, and the sole pediatric-dedicated PET/CT scanner in Georgia. All of the new equipment utilizes protocols designed to address the specific needs of children, including precise configuration to accurately diagnose clinical questions, minimize radiation exposure, and reduce the need for sedation.

                     - Stephen F. Simoneaux, MD
                                              Director, Division of Pediatric Radiology

Recent Accomplishments

Distinguished Service Award and Lifetime Service Award

Dr. Simoneaux was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the American Board of Radiology (ABR). He is being acknowledged and shown appreciation for his ongoing exceptional service in fulfilling the ABR mission.

He was also awarded the ABR Lifetime Service Award in recognition of his continued volunteer services. He has been volunteering his time throughout the years, assisting with administering and preparing the exams, in addition to serving on various committees for this professional organization.



Society for Pediatric Radiology Presidential Recognition Award


Dr. Kimberly Applegate was recently honored with The Society for Pediatric Radiology Presidential Recognition Award at their London meeting. The Presidential Recognition Awards are given to those members or other individuals who have demonstrated ambition and dedication to impacting the vision and implementation of goals to better serve the members of the society. The Society of Pediatric Radiology strives to provide the highest quality of pediatric health care through imaging technology.

 


American Board of Radiology (ABR) Appointment

 

 

The American Board of Radiology (ABR) has selected Dr. Simoneaux to manage the ABR pediatric images. In this position, he will evaluate the quality and applicability of the images that are submitted to and used by the ABR during boards examinations. Dr. Simoneaux will also continue to serve on the Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) Committee and the Written Exam Committee. 

 


 

25 Most Influential in Radiology

As a member of the Steering Committee for the Image Gently Campaign, Dr. Applegate has contributed to the awareness of reducing unnecessary radiation exposure to children.  This campaign, led by the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, ranked #8 as a mover and shaker in the radiology industry by RT Image magazine, the only national, weekly magazine for radiology professionals. 

 

RT Image recognized the campaign for its efforts including interventional radiology. "Through easily accessible online teaching materials and checklists, the 'Step Lightly' campaign helps interventional radiology providers use the lowest dose necessary to perform interventional radiology procedures on children." The article goes on to point out, "The team approach that Image Gently emphasizes includes ensuring that the technologists, nurses, doctors, and anyone else who is involved in pediatric care are educated about radiation safety."  Image Gently has included all the educational materials on their web site for complementary download.

 

This achievement is preceded by other successes of the Image Gently campaign, which include a joint effort with the ACR to successfully add CT dose in children to the list of 34 national goals for safety by the National Quality Forum (NQF). The only other radiology-related item on the list is contrast media safety (both iodinated contrast and gadolinium contrast risks).

 

We are very fortunate to have a leader of the Radiology Community serving as our Vice Chair of Quality & Safety.  If you would like to get more involved in the efforts of quality & safety here at Emory, please contact Dr. Applegate at keapple@emory.edu

 

Read the complete 25 Most Influential in Radiology list in the Sept. 7 issue of RT Image.  www.rt-image.com

 

For more about the image gently campaign visit: www.imagegently.org


American College of Radiology (ACR) Accreditation
 
Children's Health Care of Atlanta (CHOA) received accreditation from the ACR for CT.   This modality joins the list with MR, Nuclear Medicine, Ultrasound of ACR accredited modalities at Egleston.


Top Doctor in Atlanta

Atlanta Magazine named Dr. Stephen Simoneaux, Director of Pediatric Imaging as one of the Atlanta Metro area Top Doctors of Diagnostic Radiology in their July issue.  The doctors were chosen after consulting data gathered by the New Your-based research firm Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.  The unique selection process allows physicians to nominate other physicians that they feel are clinically outstanding, both regionally and nationally.

Caffey Award

Dr. Adina Alazraki, Pediatric Imaging Fellow, contributed to the success of the paper entitle "Evaluation of single functioning kidneys using MR urography", which earned the Carry Award for Best Clinical Science Paper at the Society for Pediatric Radiology.

Publications

Khong PL, Ringertz H, Donoghue V, Frush D, Rehani M, Applegate K, Sanchez R. ICRP PUBLICATION 121: Radiological Protection in Paediatric Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology. Ann ICRP. 2013 Apr;42(2):1-63.

Moser JW,  Applegate KE. Imaging and insurance: do the uninsured get less imaging in emergency departments? Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR 2012 Jan;9(1):50-7.

Moser JW,  Applegate KE. Use of inpatient imaging services by persons without health insurance. Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR 2012 Jan;9(1):42-9 

Evidence-Based Imaging: Quality Imaging in Patient Care, Revised Edition presents the radiologist and clinician with a user-friendly guide to the evidence-based science and the merit behind the diagnostic imaging performed in medicine. Edited by Drs. L. Santiago Medina, C. Craig Blackmore and Kimberly E. Applegate

Dobbs M, Ahmed R, Patrick LE. Bismuth breast and thyroid shield implementation for pediatric CT. Radiol Manage. 2011 Jan-Feb; 33(1):18-22; quiz 23-4.

Dorfman AL, Fazel R, Einstein AJ, Applegate KE, Krumholz HM, Wang Y, Christodoulou E, Chen J, Sanchez R, Nallamothu BK.  Use of Medical Imaging Procedures With Ionizing Radiation in Children: A Population-Based StudyArch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2011 Jan 3. [Epub.]

Sauer C, Kugathasan S, Martin D, Applegate K. Medical Radiation Exposure in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Estimates Potentially High Cumulative Doses. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2011 Jan 13. [Epub.]

Dr. Kimberly Applegate
was highlighted in an article found in the ARRS In Practice Fall 2010 newsletter entitled, "Rethinking Radiation Worldwide".  You can read the article on page 15 of the electronic version of the newsletter.

Rao L, Tiller C, Coates C, Kimmel R, Applegate KE, Granroth-Cook J, Denski C, Nguyen J, Yu Z, Hoffman E, Tepper RS. Lung growth in infants and toddlers assessed by multi-slice computed tomography. Acad Radiol. 2010 Sep;17(9):1128-35. Epub 2010 Jun 14.

Strauss KJ, Goske MJ, Kaste SC, Bulas D, Frush DP, Butler P, Morrison G, Callahan MJ, Applegate KE.Image Gently: Ten steps you can take to optimize image quality and lower CT dose for pediatric patients. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2010 Apr;194(4):868-73.

Kamireddi A, Braithwaite K, Simoneaux S. Wilm's Tumor. ACR Case in Point. June 24, 2010.

Medina LS, Applegeate KE, Blackmore CC. Evidence-Based Imaging in Pediatrics: Optimizing Imaging in Pediatric Patient Care. Springer. 2009.

Johnson AJ, Chen MY, Swan JS, Applegate KE, Littenberg B. Cohort Study of Structured Reporting Compared with Conventional Dictation. Radiology. 2009 Aug 25. [Epub ahead of print]

Dunn AL, Busch MT, Wyly JB, Sullivan KM, Abshire TC. Arthroscopic Synovectomy for Hemophilic Joint Disease in a Pediatric Population. Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics. Jul/Aug 2004; 24 (4): 414 - 426.

Contact Information

Pediatric Radiology
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston
1405 Clifton Road NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30322

Margaret Nix
404-325-6532
Fax: 404-315-2216
email: margaret.nix@choa.org
 

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