Improving Radiology Report Quality by Rapidly Notifying Radiologist of Report Errors

Radiology report errors occur for many reasons including the use of pre-filled report templates, wrong-word substitution, nonsensical phrases, and missing words. Reports may also contain clinical errors that are not specific to the speech recognition including wrong laterality and gender-specific discrepancies. Our goal was to create a custom algorithm to detect potential gender and laterality mismatch errors and to notify the interpreting radiologists for rapid correction. A JavaScript algorithm was devised to flag gender and laterality mismatch errors by searching the text of the report for keywords and comparing them to parameters within the study’s HL7 metadata (i.e., procedure type, patient sex). The error detection algorithm was retrospectively applied to 82,353 reports 4 months prior to its development and then prospectively to 309,304 reports 15 months after implementation. Flagged reports were reviewed individually by two radiologists for a true gender or laterality error and to determine if the errors were ultimately corrected. There was significant improvement in the number of flagged reports (pre, 198/82,353 [0.24 %]; post, 628/309,304 [0.20 %]; P = 0.04) and reports containing confirmed gender or laterality errors (pre, 116/82,353 [0.014 %]; post, 285/309,304 [0.09 %]; P < 0.0001) after implementing our error notification system. The number of flagged reports containing an error that were ultimately corrected improved dramatically after implementing the notification system (pre, 17/116 [15 %]; post, 239/285 [84 %]; P < 0.0001). We developed a successful automated tool for detecting and notifying radiologists of potential gender and laterality errors, allowing for rapid report correction and reducing the overall rate of report errors.     

Ablation of Renal Cell Carcinoma: An Assessment of Currently Available Techniques

Image-guided thermal ablation is a minimally invasive treatment option for patients with renal cell carcinoma. The purpose of this review is to describe currently available ablation options for renal cell carcinoma and nursing care.     

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on radiographers in the Republic of Cyprus. A questionnaire survey

IntroductionImaging is essential for the initial diagnosis and monitoring of the novel coronavirus, which emerged in Wuhan, China. This study aims to assess the insight of radiographers on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their work routine and if protective measures are applied.MethodA prospective observational study was conducted among radiographers registered in the Cyprus Society of Registered Radiologic Technologists & Radiation Therapy Technologists. A questionnaire composed of 28 multiple choice questions was utilised, and the data analysis was performed using SPSS software with the statistical significance assumed as p-value < 0.05.ResultsOut of 350 registered radiographers, 101 responses were received. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences regarding the working hours, the feeling of stress, the work effectiveness, the average examination time, the presence of a protocol used among the different workplaces of the participants; a private radiology centre, a private hospital or a public hospital, with a p-value 0.0022, 0.015, 0.027, 0.001, 0.0001 respectively. Also, statistically significant differences were observed in the decontamination methods used for equipment (p-value 0.007), for air (p-value 0.04) and when decontamination takes place (p-value 0.00032) among the different workplaces of the participants. Nonetheless, the majority of radiographers believe that their workplace is sufficiently provided with PPE, cleaning supplies, equipment, and with cleaning personnel and are optimistic regarding the adequacy of these provisions in the next three months.ConclusionThis study showed that in the Republic of Cyprus, there are protocols regarding protective measures against COVID-19, and the radiographers are adequately trained on how to face an infectious disease outbreak. However, work is needed in order to develop protocols that reassure the safety of patients and medical personnel while managing the excess workload effectively.Implications for practiceThis study indicates the importance of applying protective measures and protocols in the radiology departments in order to minimise the spread of the virus.     

Unprofessional practice and student professionalism dilemmas: What can radiography learn from the other health professions?

ObjectiveProfessionalism in radiography is a complex, multidimensional concept seldom investigated. During clinical placements, students may observe or be involved in unprofessional practice/professionalism lapses which result in professionalism dilemmas. Establishing what constitutes a professionalism dilemma and what action to take may be challenging for students and also practitioners. This is due to unclear reporting pathways and fear of retribution, both deterrents to raising concerns. The aim of this integrative literature review was to investigate how and why professionalism dilemmas occur. In addition, to explore the types of dilemma students experience during clinical placement and to contextualise and reflect on these findings within radiography. Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Google Scholar and the grey literature were reviewed, analysed and themed.Key findingsTwenty-eight papers (published between 2004 and 2020) were analysed and summarised. Four themes emerged, and were discussed within the radiography context; the nature of professionalism lapses (mistreatment, verbal abuse, exclusion and intimidation), reasons for professionalism lapses (burnout and poor role modelling), student response at the time of the professionalism dilemma (accept, resist or report) and long-term impacts on students (moral/emotional distress, professional development and choice of career).ConclusionProfessionalism dilemmas are not reported in the radiography literature but are cited in radiology and other health professions studies. Student experiences of such dilemmas can be profound and long lasting. Thus, research is required to investigate specifically the professional dilemmas experienced by radiography students in the unique environment in which they develop their clinical skills.Implications for practiceThe literature review findings can be used to support the development of strategies to enhance future teaching and modelling of professionalism and develop related research in radiography.     

Hallazgos iniciales en la radiografía de tórax como predictores de empeoramiento en la infección pulmonar por SARS-CoV-2. Correlación en 265 pacientes

Background and aimsWe aimed to analyze the relationship between the initial chest X-ray findings in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome due to infection with SARS-CoV-2 and eventual clinical worsening and to compare three systems of quantifying these findings.Material and methodsThis retrospective study reviewed the clinical and radiological evolution of 265 adult patients with COVID-19 attended at our center between March 2020 and April 2020. We recorded data related to patients’ comorbidities, hospital stay, and clinical worsening (admission to the ICU, intubation, and death). We used three scoring systems taking into consideration 6 or 8 lung fields (designated 6 A, 6 B, and 8) to quantify lung involvement in each patient's initial abnormal chest X-ray and to classify its severity as mild, moderate, or severe, and we compared these three systems. We also recorded the presence of alveolar opacities and linear opacities (fundamentally linear atelectasis) in the first chest X-ray with pathologic findings.ResultsIn the χ2 analysis, moderate or severe involvement in the three classification systems correlated with hospital admission (p = 0.009 in 6 A, p = 0.001 in 6 B, and p = 0.001 in 8) and with death (p = 0.02 in 6 A, p = 0.01 in 6 B, and p = 0.006 in 8). In the regression analysis, the most significant associations were 6 B with alveolar involvement (OR 2.3; 95%CI 1.1.–4.7; p = 0.025;) and 8 with alveolar involvement (OR 2.07; 95% CI 1.01.–4.25; p = 0.046). No differences were observed in the ability of the three systems to predict clinical worsening by classifications of involvement in chest X-rays as moderate or severe.ConclusionModerate/severe extension in the three chest X-ray scoring systems evaluating the extent of involvement over 6 or 8 lung fields and the finding of alveolar opacities in the first abnormal X-ray correlated with mortality and the rate of hospitalization in the patients studied. No significant difference was found in the predictive ability of the three classification systems proposed.     

Indicadores bibliométricos para evaluar la actividad científica

Bibliometric indicators have been devised to quantify scientific production and to try to evaluate its impact in the community. In general, bibliometric indicators can be classified according to whether the unit of analysis is the author (individual or group) or journal. The most widely used indicators for authors are those that measure an individual author's production, such as the Crown index or the h-index and its derivatives (e-index, h5-index, and the absolute or Ab-index, among others). The bibliometric indicators devised to try to evaluate journal quality are associated with Journal Citation Reports (e.g., impact factor, field-weighted citation impact, Eigenfactor, and article influence) or with Scopus (Scimago Journal Rank (SJR), source normalized impact per paper (SNIP), and CiteScore). This article describes the main bibliometric indicators, explains how they are calculated, and discusses their advantages and limitations.     

新型冠状病毒感染疫情期间放射科应急防控管理方案的探讨

自2019年12月以来,我国多省市持续发生2019新型冠状病毒肺炎(Corona Virus Disease 2019,COVID-19)流行病例。放射科作为主要影像筛查与辅助诊断的一线科室,应急防控工作尤为重要。本文通过总结并探讨了我科为应对新型冠状病毒感染疫情期间的应急防控方案,拟为放射科抗击烈性传染病的管理工作提供参考意见。     

血管介入技术在治疗肾癌伴下腔静脉瘤栓中的应用

肾癌伴下腔静脉瘤栓以手术治疗为主,传统手术创伤大、风险高,手术方式也一直发展变化,而血管介入技术的发展和应用,使此类手术更为安全和方便.本文总结了肾动脉介入、下腔静脉滤器、球囊和血管镜在治疗肾癌伴下腔静脉瘤栓中的应用.