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Previous neuroimaging deemed suboptimal in more than one-third of patients
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Neuroimaging performed on patients with neuro-ophthalmic symptoms was found to be frequently insufficient, according to a study.
Neuroimaging results were suboptimal in more than one-third of cases, the study authors said.
“These findings have significant implications given the increasing attention to resource use currently and in the near future,” they said. “This data suggest that modern neuroimaging serves best as an adjuvant to, and not a replacement for, proper clinical examination.”
The prospective cohort study included 84 patients with an average age of 51.3 years who had undergone a neuroimaging study with MRI or CT in the previous 12 months to investigate neuro-ophthalmic symptoms.
Patients underwent a complete neuro-ophthalmic examination and review of previous neuroimaging results. An attending physician completed a form regarding imaging, concordance of radiologic interpretation and re-evaluation of diagnoses.
Study results showed that 71 subjects (84.5%) underwent MRI and 13 patients (15.5%) underwent CT.
Previous imaging studies were deemed suboptimal in 32 cases (38.1%). The studies were suboptimal because of incomplete imaging in 34.4% of cases, wrong study type in 28.1% of cases and poor image quality in 21.9% of cases.
Reinterpretation of previous neuroimaging results agreed with official results in 65 cases (77.4%). When disagreement arose, a previously normal radiologic examination was reinterpreted as abnormal in 13 of 20 cases (65%).
The diagnosis after neuro-ophthalmic examination and review of previous neuroimaging studies was changed in 47 of 68 cases (69.1%), the authors said.
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