Surprise results in medical tests draw new focus

Medical tests can often discover incidental findings—abnormalities found unintentionally and not related to the medical condition that prompted the test. Incidental findings occur in as many as a third of imaging tests, studies show. But they often aren’t followed up on, or even noted in a patient’s record. Now, health-care providers are developing tracking systems to make sure the most worrisome discoveries don’t fall through the cracks. Sayon Dutta, instructor in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, led the research. Mark Mangano, clinical fellow in radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Susan Bennett, assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, are mentioned.

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