Second Opinion Interpretations by Specialty Radiologists at a Pediatric Hospital: Rate of Disagreement and Clinical Implications

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to identify whether a substantive difference exists between the imaging interpretations of radiologists at outside referring institutions and those of radiologists at a tertiary care children’s hospital and whether such reinterpretation affects the clinical management of pediatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This retrospective chart review examined the diagnostic imaging reports of all pediatric patients referred to a tertiary care freestanding children’s hospital over a 17-month period (January 1, 2009–May 31, 2010); 773 examinations met the inclusion criteria. The original and second interpretations were compared. A fellowship-trained pediatric radiologist and neuroradiologist categorized each case using the content of the two radiology reports as agreement versus minor or major disagreement, and the results were analyzed for statistical significance. A cohort of cases in which a final diagnosis could be confirmed was also analyzed to evaluate the accuracy ...