![]() ![]() ![]() For example, findings perceived as harmless may later become relevant. Pandharipande and colleagues acknowledged that these criteria do have limitations. The cyst is not likely to indicate a nonmalignant disease.The cyst has no excess malignant potential given known or suspected patient-level risk.The cyst has no meaningful anatomic or physiologic consequence.The cyst is not the reason for the examination.If a radiologist can make it through this checklist, the authors said, perhaps not reporting the incidental finding is the way to go. Using a Bosniak category 1 renal cyst as their example case, the authors listed four key criteria to be considered. Even if the report recommends not following up on the finding, the referring physician could misunderstand that opinion and proceed by moving forward. highlighted that avoiding unnecessary follow-up imaging is a significant benefit of not disclosing harmless incidental findings. In the latter, the radiologist shares responsibility for interpreting the finding’s importance in the context of the patient’s overall health.” In the former, the radiologist, either passively or intentionally, displaces the responsibility of interpreting a finding’s importance to the referrer. “We contend that the radiologist’s report should minimize the traditional descriptive catalog of findings and take a form similar to a consulting physician’s report, focusing on the clinical question. “We consider the following question: if such an incidental finding has no known clinical consequence, does it merit mention in a radiology report?” the authors wrote. Pandharipande, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examined how they believe radiologists should react when facing such a dilemma. In an original article published by the Journal of the American College of Radiology, Pari V. But what about the legal ramifications? What would one of their peers do in the same situation? If there is no clinical consequence and the radiologist is just going to recommend no further evaluation, it’s tempting to just leave it out of the report altogether. When radiologists discover harmless incidental findings, they are left with the complex, at times difficult choice of either including it in the radiology report or not mentioning it at all. ![]()
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