A new study will be published soon that found that 20 of 24 credentialed radiologists did not see a dancing gorilla placed on one of five scans they were asked to look at. In fact, half of the 24 radiologists looked directly at the gorilla, and missed it.

The larger point of the study is that even “expert searchers” such as radiologists miss things if they are not looking for them.

Here is a link to the article: [83% of radiologists fail to spot Dancing Gorilla on CT][1]

Missing things that are there to be seen – even things a radiologist isn’t necessarily looking for – can be dangerous to patients in certain circumstances and give rise to claims for negligence.

So called “incidental findings” – unanticipated discoveries in the course of testing or medical care – are golden opportunities for radiologists to catch things no one was looking for and that hadn’t yet produced symptoms. When such findings are missed, patients can lose a chance to catch something before it becomes a much bigger problem.

[1]: http://www.24tanzania.com/can-you-see-the-dancing-gorilla-new-psychological-study-reveals-83-percent-of-radiologists-fail-to-spot-it/ “83% of radiologists fail to spot Dancing Gorilla on CT”