Autopsy as a Quality Control Measure for Radiology, and Vice Versa

OBJECTIVE. Radiologic studies are anatomic studies lacking the natural full-color, 3D, and microscopic-level examination of autopsies, suggesting that autopsies might be able to serve as quality control for radiology. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Cases in which complete or near-complete autopsies were performed at a university hospital in 2008 were reviewed, and antemortem radiologic diagnoses were compared with corresponding autopsy findings. Discrepancies between antemortem radiologic diagnoses and autopsy findings were categorized. RESULTS. For 729 of the 828 diagnoses reviewed in the study, the pathologic condition in question was thought to be present at the time that a radiologic study of the relevant anatomic region was performed. Of these 729 radiologic diagnoses, 201 (27.6%) were determined to be discrepant from the corresponding autopsy diagnoses (i.e., autopsy deemed correct), but many of these radiologic discrepancies were not of clinical significance. The radiologic error rate considers only the cl...