Neuroimaging disagreements and consequences among pediatric transfers with concern for abuse.

BACKGROUND

Previous research supports substantial differences between pediatric neuroimaging interpretations by non-pediatric and pediatric-trained radiologists, however little is known about how this applies within the context of child abuse.

OBJECTIVE

Compare interpretations of head computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies between community/adult academic radiologists and academic pediatric neuroradiologists.

PARTICIPANTS AND

SETTING

Children less than 6 years old with concern for abuse who were transferred from an outside hospital to a pediatric level I trauma center.

METHODS

This retrospective secondary analysis of data extracted from radiology and electronic health records used descriptive statistics to examine sample characteristics, imaging interpretation analysis (agreement, minor/major disagreement), and consequences of disagreements.

RESULTS

The analytic sample consisted of 100 cases of children less than 1 year old (76%) who underwent neuroimaging studies including computed tomography (n = 98) and magnetic resonance imaging scans (n = 2). Comparative analysis of neuroradiology interpretations demonstrated 67 pairs in agreement and 33 in disagreement. Of the 33 pairs in disagreement, 89 individual disagreements represented major (53%) and minor (47%) disagreements. Common major disagreements involved missed skull fractures (38.3%) and missed intracranial hemorrhages (30%), whereas common minor disagreements involved missed scalp swelling (38%) and incorrect skull fracture diagnosis (26%). Sixty-eight instances of disagreement altered clinical diagnosis and/or management related to child abuse evaluations.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the critical clinical and investigative implications surrounding concern for child abuse, access to experienced pediatric-trained neuroradiologists is essential in minimizing interpretation errors and reducing consequences for patients, providers, and health care organizations.