Radiologist under investigation after cardiologists flag hundreds of 'misreported' MRI reads

A radiologist in England is under investigation after dozens of reporting mistakes—some of which may have caused patients undue harm and even death—were brought to light by a group of cardiologists. 

More than 1,200 cardiac MRI scans interpreted by the doctor, who is not named in the report, between 2013 and 2020 are under review by the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, according to BBC. Based on the review’s initial findings thus far, the radiologist’s discrepancy rate on cardiac MRI reports was 37%—more than 7 times higher than the expected rate of 5%. This equates to one error per every three reports. 

Although the trust has indicated that "no significant harm" stemming from the report errors has been uncovered, there have been dozens of instances in which they posed the threat of serious adverse consequences. In two patients, the investigation found  the reports contained "definite omission or misinterpretation with unequivocal potential for serious morbidity or threat to life,” while more than 100 others had "definite omission or interpretation of finding with strong likelihood of moderate morbidity but not threat to life.” 

Of the 1,224 cases under review, 176 of the patients have passed away, and 101 of those individuals’ imaging findings were “misreported.” A medical examiner is now reviewing the cases to determine whether the report discrepancies directly caused, contributed to or accelerated those deaths. 

"We have re-seen and personally apologized to the 120 patients who have needed to be followed up as part of this review, and while so far the investigation has found no significant harm has been caused, we absolutely apologize again to those affected for the emotional impact this has had and for the extended time this has taken,” the trust's executive chief medical officer, Gisela Robinson, MD, said in a statement. "Though scans are just one of many elements we use to diagnose a patient and variations in how clinicians read them are expected, our investigation has shown our processes were not as strong as they could have been and we have made changes—with scans now being reviewed as part of a multidisciplinary team, and a percentage of scans externally audited as an additional safety measure.” 

The doctor in question is no longer employed at the hospital, though they are still registered to practice medicine with no restrictions. A full report on the trust's findings is expected to be released later this year once the investigation is complete.