Spectrum of diagnostic errors in radiology  

作　　者：Antonio Pinto Luca Brunese 

机构地区：[1]Department of Radiology,Cardarelli Hospital [2]Department of Health Science,Faculty of Medicine and Surgery,University of Molise

出　　处：《World Journal of Radiology》2010年第10期377-383,共7页世界放射学杂志（英文版）（电子版）

摘　　要：Diagnostic errors are important in all branches of medicine because they are an indication of poor patient care. Since the early 1970s,physicians have been subjected to an increasing number of medical malpractice claims. Radiology is one of the specialties most liable to claims of medical negligence.Most often,a plaintiff's complaint against a radiologist will focus on a failure to diagnose. The etiology of radiological error is multi-factorial.Errors fall into recurrent patterns.Errors arise from poor technique,failures of perception,lack of knowledge and misjudgments.The work of diagnostic radiology consists of the complete detection of all abnormalities in an imaging examination and their accurate diagnosis. Every radiologist should understand the sources of error in diagnostic radiology as well as the elements of negligence that form the basis of malpractice litigation.Error traps need to be uncovered and highlighted,in order to prevent repetition of the same mistakes.This article focuses on the spectrum of diagnostic errors in radiology, including a classification of the errors,and stresses the malpractice issues in mammography,chest radiology and obstetric sonography.Missed fractures in emergency and communication issues between radiologists and physicians are also discussed.Diagnostic errors are important in all branches of medicine because they are an indication of poor patient care. Since the early 1970s, physicians have been subjected to an increasing number of medical malpractice claims. Radiology is one of the specialties most liable to claims of medical negligence. Most often, a plaintiff’s complaint against a radiologist will focus on a failure to diagnose. The etiology of radiological error is multi-factorial. Errors fall into recurrent patterns. Errors arise from poor technique, failures of perception, lack of knowledge and misjudgments. The work of diagnostic radiology consists of the complete detection of all abnormalities in an imaging examination and their accurate diagnosis. Every radiologist should understand the sources of error in diagnostic radiology as well as the elements of negligence that form the basis of malpractice litigation. Error traps need to be uncovered and highlighted, in order to prevent repetition of the same mistakes. This article focuses on the spectrum of diagnostic errors in radiology, including a classification of the errors, and stresses the malpractice issues in mammography, chest radiology and obstetric sonography. Missed fractures in emergency and communication issues between radiologists and physicians are also discussed.

关 键 词：DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY Medical NEGLIGENCE MEDICO-LEGAL problems OBSERVER performance RADIOLOGICAL error 

分 类 号：R815[医药卫生—放射医学]