EDITORIALS
Chest x rays—who should report them acutely?
1 Northwest London Hospitals NHS Trust, Central Middlesex Hospital, Park Royal, London, UK
2 Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington, Kent, UK
Correspondence to:
Dr Gillian Bain, Northwest London Hospitals NHS Trust, Central Middlesex Hospital, Acton Lane, Park Royal, London NW10 7NS, UK; Gillian.Bain@nwlh.nhs.uk
Keywords: chest x ray; diagnostic errors; radiology; emergency medicine
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The chest radiograph (CXR) is the most widely performed radiological examination, but is considered to be one of the most complex imaging modalities to interpret.1 Most patients admitted as a medical emergency have one taken, and yet the circumstances under which this is performed—for example, in the acutely ill, poorly positioned patient taking an inadequate breath—reduce the subsequent quality of the image, adding to the difficulties of interpretation. Despite this, initial assessment of the CXR is often left to relatively inexperienced junior doctors, with limited training in radiology, who may misinterpret the images, possibly leading to inappropriate management including the use of antibiotics,2–4 or unnecessary further imaging, increasing cost and risking further morbidity during the admission. Serious lesions may be missed and the diagnosis of malignancy delayed, which may affect a patient’s survival.3 5–7 Several authors have demonstrated that radiologists, not surprisingly, make significantly fewer errors than other clinicians in the
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