A radiologist, the person who specializes in reviewing imaging studies in medicine, is often someone you notice if they're unusually bad or unusually good. They perform a service and you presume that they're good at it, but a few are so sharp that the other doctors they work with notice it at every tumor board discussion or one on one exchange.

Dr. Manning is one of those special radiologists. She had trained at the University of Washington while I was completing my medical oncology training there, and when she left to join Seattle Radiology, a private group based at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, I was among the many doctors who felt the body blow of losing her talent. On the other hand, when I later joined the medical oncology group at Swedish, I was very happy to have the opportunity to be reunited with her.

But talk is cheap, so I'll also add that when I developed a cough that lasted for months a few years ago, and one of the thoracic surgeons I work with said I needed to get a chest CT to check it out (as I joked that his practice was slow and that he was trying to drum up business), it was Dr. Manning who read my own scans for me (and fortunately, they were OK).

She remains a terrific resource, and one too valuable to not share with others. She was kind enough to sit down with me for a discussion of current issues in imaging, with a particular focus on issues related to lung cancer. Here's the first part of our discussion, which covers a bit on screening, the issues related to assessing and following lung nodules, and some basics of the work-up and ongoing follow-up of patients with lung cancer. Below you'll find the audio and video versions of the podcast, the transcript, and a copy of the very few figures associated with the audio component:

dr-manning-imaging-intro-part-1-audio-podcast

dr-manning-imaging-intro-part-1-transcript

dr-manning-imaging-intro-part-1-figures

I welcome your comments and questions. Part 2 of our discussion is coming soon.