Getting out of my comfort zone.

 And now for something completely different...

Being interviewed for TV is much harder than writing, lecturing with notes, attending case conference with barrister, conference between experts and giving evidence in court.

What have I learned?

Prone to imposter syndrome which threatens to strangle me even on a good day, I learned that there is no limit to the deviousness of my brain.  Since the interview it has rewritten the interview over and over again so now I am slightly alarmed about the prospect of watching it.

I was approached to give the interview after giving evidence in a case last year, the producer read the judgement and contacted me.  I spent a lot of time deciding if I wanted to take the step of being interviewed but in the end I decided to do it.  The ethos of the programme at City is to turn out sonographers who are not only clinically competent but who are confident and politely bolshy enough to stand up for the profession and patients at local and national level.  I had to practice what I preach!

And bloody terrifying it was too.

But probably not as terrifying as if I had not had expert witness training and experience.  I discovered that the skills are similar.  Stay in your circle and don’t talk about stuff you are not there to talk about or stuff outside your scope.  I just hope I managed it, I was surprised at the length of time it took, the same question filmed from different angles. It was surprisingly tiring and with social distancing and cold as it was filmed in my back garden, a space best described as a work in progress.

No idea yet when it goes out, will be interesting to see (from behind the sofa or between my fingers) how it turns out.

The BBC piece can be found here...

Taking a podcast moment. Obstetric ultrasound of the renal tract.

Today was all about writing an exam but I took a little time out to record a new podcast on the antenatal ultrasound appearances of the renal tract.  To improve the sound quality I used a trick stolen from my daughter and hid under a quilt to record.  Ruby has now adopted the quilt and I fear that I am not allowed to move my chair to get up as the quilt is partly resting on it!    
I hope you find the podcast useful, it is a brief overview of the embryology, normal sonographic appearance and anomalies of the renal tract.  The reference list and bibliography used in constructing the pod is below.
As always, the pod is designed for development of knowledge base and is based on evidence available at the time of writing.  It does not constitute advice or guidance for practice, please refer to your local protocols and national guidance.  If you become aware of any new evidence which contradicts or develops any of the content, or you wish to discuss any of the points raised, please let me know on twitter @peabodysono or via the blog.
                 
     


References

Avni, F.E., Garel, C., Cassart, M., D'Haene, N., Hall, M. & Riccabona, M. 2012, "Imaging and classification of congenital cystic renal diseases", AJR. American journal of roentgenology, vol. 198, no. 5, pp. 1004-1013. https://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.11.8083 (accessed 4th December 2019)

Bornes, M., Spaggiari, E., Schmitz, T., Dreux, S., Czerkiewicz, I., Delezoide, A., El‐Ghoneimi, A., Oury, J. & Muller, F. 2013, "Outcome and etiologies of fetal megacystis according to the gestational age at diagnosis", Prenatal Diagnosis, vol. 33, no. 12, pp. 1162-1166.

Chiodini, B., Ghassemi, M., Khelif, K. & Ismaili, K. 2019, "Clinical Outcome of Children With Antenatally Diagnosed Hydronephrosis", Frontiers in pediatrics, vol. 7, pp. 103.

Cuckow, P.M., Nyirady, P. & Winyard, P.J.D. 2001, "Normal and abnormal development of the urogenital tract", Prenatal Diagnosis, vol. 21, no. 11, pp. 908-916.

Dias, Tiran, MD (Obs & Gyn), MRCOG (UK), MD-Research (London), Dip (Fetal Med) UK, Sairam, Shanthi, MBBS, MRCOG & Kumarasiri, S., MBBS 2014, "Ultrasound diagnosis of fetal renal abnormalities", Best Practice & Research: Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 403-415.

Fontanella, F., Maggio, L., Verheij, J., Duin, L.K., van Scheltema, P. N. A, Cohen-Overbeek, T., Pajkrt, E., Bekker, M., Willekes, C., Bax, C., Gracchi, V., Oepkes, D. & Bilardo, C.M. 2019, "Fetal megacystis: a lot more than LUTO", Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 779-787.

Friedman, M.A., Aguilar, L., Heyward, Q., Wheeler, C. & Caldamone, A. 2018, "Screening for Mullerian anomalies in patients with unilateral renal agenesis: Leveraging early detection to prevent complications", Journal of Pediatric Urology, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 144-149.

Kang, M., Kim, Y.C., Lee, H., Kim, D.K., Oh, K., Joo, K.W., Kim, Y.S., Chin, H.J. & Han, S.S. 2019, "Renal outcomes in adult patients with horseshoe kidney", Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation.

Liao, A.W., Sebire, N.J., Geerts, L., Cicero, S. & Nicolaides, K.H. 2003, "Megacystis at 10–14 weeks of gestation: chromosomal defects and outcome according to bladder length", Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 338-341.

McPherson, E (2007) 'Renal anomalies in families of individuals with congenital solitary kidney ', Genetics in Medicine, Vol. 9(No. 5), pp. 298 - 302.

Nguyen, H.T., Herndon, C.D.A., Cooper, C., Gatti, J., Kirsch, A., Kokorowski, P., Lee, R., Perez-Brayfield, M., Metcalfe, P., Yerkes, E., Cendron, M. & Campbell, J.B. 2010, "The Society for Fetal Urology consensus statement on the evaluation and management of antenatal hydronephrosis", Journal of Pediatric Urology, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 212-231.

Policiano, C., Djokovic, D., Carvalho, R., Monteiro, C., Melo, M.A. & Graça, L.M. 2015, "Ultrasound antenatal detection of urinary tract anomalies in the last decade: outcome and prognosis", The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, vol. 28, no. 8, pp. 959-963.

Public Health England (2019) National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service, NCARDRS congenital anomaly statistics 2017: tables, Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ncardrs-congenital-anomaly-annual-data (Accessed: 4th December 2019).

Public Health England (2019) National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service Congenital anomaly statistics 2017, Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ncardrs-congenital-anomaly-annual-data (Accessed: 4th December 2019).

Sairam, S., Al‐Habib, A., Sasson, S. & Thilaganathan, B. 2001, "Natural history of fetal hydronephrosis diagnosed on mid‐trimester ultrasound", Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 191-196.

Yulia, A. & Winyard, P. 2018, "Management of antenatally detected kidney malformations", Early Human Development, vol. 126, pp. 38-46.