INTERPRETATION OF ABDOMINAL CT - ANALYSIS OF ERRORS AND THEIR CAUSES

Purpose: Our goal was to analyze those factors contributing to the err or rate in the interpretation of abdominal CT scans at an academic med ical center. Method: From a total of 694 consecutive patients (329 mal e, 365 female), we evaluated the error rates of interpreting abdominal CT studies. The average patient age was 54 years. All abdominal CT st udies were reviewed by three to five CT faculty radiologists on the mo rning after the studies were performed. The error rate was correlated with reader variability, the number of cases read per day, the presenc e of a resident, inpatient versus outpatient, organ systems, etc. The chi(2)-test was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 56 errors were found in the reports of 53 patients (overall error rate = 7.6%). Of these errors, 19 were judged to be clinically significant an d 7 affected patient management. A statistically significant differenc e in error rates was noted among the five faculty radiologists (3.6-16 .1%, p = 0.00062). No significant correlates between error rates and a ny of the other variables could be established. Conclusion: The primar y determinant of error rates in body CT is the skill of the interpreti ng radiologist.