Misread CT scans contribute to three deaths, panel says
September 29, 2011
by
Brendon Nafziger, DOTmed News Associate Editor
A Canadian investigation reveals at least a dozen patients had their conditions misdiagnosed or treatment delayed after doctors misread their CT scans, which might have contributed to three deaths.
The British Columbia health minister, Michael de Jong, announced the investigation's findings in a press conference Tuesday, where he apologized to the patients and their families.
"To all of these patients, and their families, I, we, are very, very sorry," he said, according to the Vancouver Sun.
The review launched in February, after health officials in the Canadian province became suspicious of the quality of work done by four radiologists last year. (Three of whom no longer work in B.C.)
Investigators, led by Dr. Doug Cochrane, head of the B.C. Patient Safety and Quality Council, ended up reviewing almost 8,000 CT scans, X-rays, mammograms and ultrasounds.
Clinically important discrepancies were only found at unusually high levels among CT scans, the report said. Between 1.4 percent and 17 percent had discrepancies, according to the report.
The review faulted the process of monitoring the doctors and assessing whether they were qualified to examine the scans, and recommended stronger peer review and other safeguards.
However, at the press conference, Cochrane said although treatment delays likely contributed to three patients' deaths, no one died directly from an imaging misinterpretation.