Uncertainty and Interpretive Error

Abstract

Uncertainty pervades medical diagnosis and can rarely be entirely eliminated. Diagnostic imaging is meant to reduce that uncertainty, ideally to the point where a clinician feels confident enough to choose a course of action. But the process of diagnostic imaging is itself prone to high variability and error. Sources of variability include technical, procedural, and anatomic variation, the variable use of language to describe and report radiological abnormalities, and the range of variability in the manifestations of disease processes Cognitive biases and varying understanding of the prevalence and likelihood of disease among radiologists can also lead to interpretive error. This chapter explores the sources of error and the sources of uncertainty in the radiological process. There is considerable overlap between the two.