Who is Aunt Minnie?

[fedor]

I know that Aunt Minnie is one of the largest radiology resources/websites, but what is the story behind the name?

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[f_w]

An 'aunt minnie' is a radiographic appearance diagnostic for a specific condition without much of a differential diagnosis.

(It is to the best of my knowledge a quote from some RSNA session in the pleiozaen of radiology. I don't recall who is quoted, but it goes something like: 'If I see an elderly lady coming through my front door, I can start to describe her hair, her clothing, the features of her face. But in the end it just IS aunt minnie because she LOOKS like aunt minnie')

 

[lattimer13]

they should've named it throckmorten! 😉

 

[fedor]

An 'aunt minnie' is a radiographic appearance diagnostic for a specific condition without much of a differential diagnosis.

(It is to the best of my knowledge a quote from some RSNA session in the pleiozaen of radiology. I don't recall who is quoted, but it goes something like: 'If I see an elderly lady coming through my front door, I can start to describe her hair, her clothing, the features of her face. But in the end it just IS aunt minnie because she LOOKS like aunt minnie')

Thank you for your reply f_w.

I just found this on the AM page:

"Q: What is an Aunt Minnie?

A: The exact origins of the term "Aunt Minnie" are a bit hazy, but it's believed to have been coined in the 1940s by Dr. Ben Felson, a radiologist at the University of Cincinnati. He used it to describe "a case with radiologic findings so specific and compelling that no realistic differential diagnosis exists."

In other words: If it looks like your Aunt Minnie, then it's your Aunt Minnie. To view our AuntMinnieTV segment featuring an interview with Dr. Maurice Reeder, a colleague of Dr. Felson's, click here.

AuntMinnie's founder, radiologist Dr. Phillip Berman, felt the term was a perfect fit for the radiology Web site he began to develop in 1999. AuntMinnie.com launched in November of that year, and it soon became a friendly, familiar stop on the Internet for radiology professionals."

TV segment is here:

http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?Sec=amtv&Sub=1&Pag=dis&ItemId=64371

 

[Voxel]

Sometimes you just know it when you see it. There are some instances where without any clinical information I can tell you the diagnosis without any differential diagnosis. No hedging is allowed when you see dear Aunt Minnie.

 

[Apollyon]

they should've named it throckmorten! 😉

John Thomas!