The diagnostic yield of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and spine requested by general practitioners: comparison with hospital clinicians

The rate of diagnosis of radiologically significant abnormalities in outpat ients following requests of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain a nd spine by general practitioners was compared with the rate following MRI scan requests by hospital clinicians. A similar rate of significant patholo gy was diagnosed in both groups in both the brain and the spine. Under care fully controlled conditions, open-access MRI scanning of the brain and spin e can contribute to effective patient management.