GETTING A SECOND OPINION ON YOUR SCANS
Like pathology reports discussed in a previous page, your reports on MRIs (and other scans) are not always correct and accurate.
Scan reports like pathology reports are subjective and open to errors. Scan interpretations are the opinion of the individual radiologist viewing the pictures from the scan.
Good radiological readings require that the radiologist have experience and a high level of expertise and specialization. Some radiologists have more expertise and more experience than others. Some specialize in reading only pictures from a specific organ; others are generalists who read many different images from many different organ systems.
When you review your scan report and make critical decisions based on the scan report's information, your best practices dictate that you obtain a second confirmatory evaluation of your scan. Obtaining a second opinion on your scan report is no different than getting a second doctor's opinion or a second pathology report. It is a must for all of us.
Not only should you get a second opinion, but it should also come from a different facility or hospital, one that has specific radiologists who have the highest level of experience and expertise. Having that second radiologist review your scan pictures is vital.
Unfortunately, most doctors don't suggest this practice, and most patients don't obtain a second opinion. Failure to have a second radiologist's opinion could be detrimental to you.
Suppose the second radiologist's report confirms the first report. In that case, you will find your stress levels will decrease because you know that you will be making decisions based on accurate information. If the opinions are different, some serious questions should be resolved before making your treatment decisions.
Don't let a doctor or a hospital tell you that you cannot send a CD of your scan pictures to another radiologist for a second reading. Your scan pictures are your personal property; only you can determine what happens with them, where they go and where they are stored.
It should be your standard of practice to ask for multiple copies of the scan CD (a CD that contains all the pictures from your scan) at the time you have the scan. When you have the scan, ask for enough CDs so that you have one for your permanent record (put it into your Medical Notebook) and a few extra CDs to send them for a second reading (opinion). If you run out of CDs, you can go back to Medical Records and request additional copies.
Men with prostate cancer who have had an MRI are a good example. The more accurate the information we have, the better our treatment decisions. Cancer ABCs has developed a recommended list of qualified MRI radiologists in North America. The following radiologists, who we recommend are the authors of PIRADS 2.0:
Jeffrey C. Weinreb: at Yale
Peter L. Choyke, Baris Turkbey: at NIH
Masoom A. Haider: at Sunnybrook, Toronto
Katarzyna J. Macura: at Johns Hopkins
Daniel Margolis: at Weill Cornell
Mitchell D. Schnall: at UOP
Clare M. Tempany: at Harvard
Sadna Verma: at U of Cincinnati
Aytekin Oto: at U of Chicago
Alberto Vargas: at MSK
Alexander Kagan: at Mt. Sinai (NYC)
