ABSTRACT
Introduction The interpretation of medical images by radiologists is a rather subjective process during which visible abnormalities may be missed. These misses (errors) may be due to the camouflaging effect of surrounding anatomic background on the lesion of interest, or to the subjective and varying criteria used by radiologists. The varying criteria which may lead to diagnostic errors include lack of clinical data (Johnson, 1984), lack of experience (Vernon, 1962), premature termination of film reading upon detecting an initial definite finding (Tuddenham, 1962), focus of attention on another abnormality related to a specific clinical question (Tuddenham, 1962), failure to review previous films (Smith, 1967) and distractions at the time of exam interpretation (Smith, 1967).
