A Retrospective Study to Assess the Impact and Importance of Pursuing a Second Opinion Surgical Pathology on Continuum of Treatment
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Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the rate of major and minor disagreements with diagnoses from external institutions for patients with head and neck lesions or clinical contexts. Design: Considering the high significance of referral in pathology, it seems that no planned retrospective or prospective study has been conducted in Saudi Arabia. Subjects/Patients: We decided to review the diagnoses of patients that were referred to our hospital over 24 months from 2015 to 2016. Methods: Both paper and electronic health records were used for data collection at King Fahad Medical City. A retrospective review of all consecutive referral cases starting from January 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016, was performed for diagnostic errors, adverse events and near misses’ diagnosis. Results: The major diagnostic discrepancy, defined as diagnostic or staging differences resulting in major alterations in treatment, were seen in 26 (10.6%) of the cases. The observed discrepancy rate of 10.6%. Conclusion: Our mandatory second review policy in pathology referral cases leads to 10.57% major diagnostic changes across all sites of head and neck. In conclusion, the second opinion in pathology should be obtained before any major therapeutic endeavour as it reveals diagnoses discrepancy, particularly in challenging sites and cases.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Hanadi A. Fatani, PhD, Saffana Hatim Al Abbaddi, PhD, Yasir Awad Ahmed
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons License All articles published in Annals of Medicine and Medical Sciences are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Hanadi A. Fatani, PhD, Head and Neck Consultant Pathologist, Anatomic Pathology Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Head and Neck Consultant Pathologist, Anatomic Pathology Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Saffana Hatim Al Abbaddi, PhD, General Dentist Trainee in KFMC, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
General Dentist Trainee in KFMC, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Yasir Awad Ahmed, Senior Lab Tech, Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Medicine Administration, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Senior Lab Tech, Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Medicine Administration, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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