Errors in imaging the pregnant patient with acute abdomen

Abstract

Pregnant women with an acute abdomen present a critical issue due to the necessity for an immediate diagnosis and treatment; in fact, a diagnostic delay could worsen the outcome for both the mother and the fetus. There is evidence that emergencies during pregnancy are subject to mismanagement; however, the percentage of errors in the diagnosis of emergencies in pregnancy has not been studied in depth. The purpose of this article is to review the most common imaging error emergencies. The topics covered are divided into gynecological and non-gynecological entities and, for each pathology, possible errors have been dealt with in the diagnostic pathway, the possible technical errors in the exam execution, and finally the possible errors in the interpretation of the images. These last two entities are often connected owing to a substandard examination, which can cause errors in the interpretation. Consequently, the systemization of errors reduces the possibility of reoccurrences in the future by providing a valid approach in helping to learn from these errors.

Particularidades do ultrassom no abdome agudo em gestantes

“…Já as massas em anexos são, em geral, diagnosticadas nos exames ultrassonográficos pré-natais de primeiro e segundo trimestres, frequentemente são silenciosas e ocorrem cerca de 2% das gestações. De acordo com Casciani et al (2015), A USG é essencial na distinção entre as massas sem complicações das que necessitam de tratamento cirúrgico imediato pelo seu tamanho e potencial de complicação (CASCIANI et al, 2015).…”

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Coexisting Spondyloarthritis: A Neglected and too Often Under-Reported Association by Radiologists. A Multicenter Study by Italian Research Group of Imaging in Rheumatology

“…It should be noted, however, that there was a high percentage of SI underreported by the radiologists that resulted in a significant diagnostic delay. The underreporting phenomenon is widespread in diagnostic imaging, in particular in cross-sectional imaging modalities, because of the high numbers of images, which thus contribute to perceptual error [59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]. This type of error is related to multiple psychophysiological factors, including level of observation alertness, observer fatigue and the absence of a specific clinical suspicion of SI [59,63,64].…”

Spontaneous uterine rupture and surgical repair at 21 weeks gestation with progression to live birth: a case report

“…Although ultrasound examination confirmed hemoperitoneum, its utility in diagnosing uterine rupture was limited. MRI has been shown to be useful in the work-up of acute abdomen in pregnancy in hemodynamically stable patients and has demonstrated superior accuracy in evaluation of uterine wall defects [ 12 , 13 ].…”