Data Analysis of Interpretation Errors Made When Reading CT Angiograms of the Head and Neck

Abstract

A medical error is an adverse outcome of medical treatment that occurs more often than it should. When reading CT angiograms (CTAs) of the head and neck, radiologists receive detailed coverage from the aortic arch to the frontal sinus, along with information about targeted blood vessels. However, these large scans can also result in missed detection of incidental findings and anomalies. This observational study aimed to determine the frequency of missed incidental findings during the examination of CTAs of the head and neck and to identify the main reasons radiologists fail to report them. Five volunteer radiologists were each randomly assigned 50 previously read cases and used the RADPEER system to score the original report. In addition, if the case received a RADPEER score other than 1, an error classification (EC) score was assigned. It was hypothesized that there are a large number of errors made by radiologists when reading CTAs of the head and neck and that in cases with missed findings, the main reason for the error is that the discrepancy was overlooked. The results of the study showed that 29.6% of the cases had an error, and of those cases, 86.5% had an EC score of 1, supporting both research hypotheses. Two chi-square tests were also performed, both of which were statistically significant. The significant number of errors could be due to satisfaction of search and the limited availability of subspecialty radiologists available to read complex cases in private practices, such as the one studied.