The good and the bad of synoptic radiology reports
Synoptic radiology reports with detailed information on disease sites in ovarian cancer could help to guide surgical decisions, but they can come at a cost, according to new data in the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Structured reports simplify radiologists’ interpretation processes, but synoptic reports offer greater detail on the presence or absence of disease, which can be beneficial in surgical planning. However, there is a caveat—despite their added value for surgeons, synoptic reports significantly increase radiologists’ report turnaround times.
In a new AJR study, experts compared hundreds of contrast-enhanced abdominopelvic CT scans and their accompanying reports for patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Of those, 128 were structured, while 77 were done in a synoptic format that included a list of 45 anatomic sites relevant to ovarian cancer management, each classified in terms of disease absence versus presence.
Mean report turnaround times rose significantly when the synoptic format was used, increasing from 29.8 minutes for simple structured reports to 54.5 minutes.
However, synoptic reports offered providers much more information; for example, structured reports mentioned just 17.6 out of 45 anatomic sites on average versus 44.5/45 sites for synoptic reports. Additionally, involvement of anatomic sites with surgically unresectable or challenging-to-resect disease were mentioned in just 37% of structured reports but were highlighted in 100% of synoptic reports.
Corresponding author of the new paper Pamela Causa Andrieu, MD, from the Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and colleagues indicated that such reports detailing the complexity of disease can facilitate improved ovarian cancer treatment planning.
“The findings indicate the role of disease-specific synoptic reports to facilitate referrer communication and potentially guide clinical decision-making,” the group concluded.
The study abstract is available here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.