Side Discrepancy Errors Are Often Clinically Significant

Side discrepancy errors in radiology reports do occur and it is important that radiologists, referring physicians, and patients communicate well to help prevent errors in clinical management, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
 
“Side discrepancy errors refer to instances when the side of the lesion is incorrectly noted in one or more sections of the radiology report,” says Minal Jagtiani Sangwaiya, MD, lead author of the study. “While the incidence of side discrepancy errors is very small, most reports describing medical errors are self-reports or surveys and they almost certainly underestimate the incidence, perhaps by a factor of 20 or more.”
 
The study, which appeared in the May issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology, included more than one million radiology reports. “88 side discrepancy errors were reported and 80% of those errors were rated as clinically important. The errors in mislabeling the side of the lesion were almost twice as frequent in female patients as in males. Mammography and radiography, followed by MRI and ultrasound were the most commonly reported techniques with mislabeling of the side of the lesion in identified errors,” says Jagtiani Sangwaiya. The errors noted in the study included those that had been corrected. The study does not account for unrecognized errors.
 
“Radiologists should check for side discrepancy errors and physicians should correlate the laterality of the radiological lesions with clinical complaints and images as well,” says Jagtiani Sangwaiya. “Patients should also discuss their radiology findings with their physicians, especially in light of their presenting symptoms and clinical signs.”
 
— Source: American Roentgen Ray Society