Radiology reporting in rectal cancer using MRI: adherence to national template for structured reporting

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Radiology
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• A national program introduced a reporting template and manual for rectal cancer staging via MRI in Sweden in 2014.
• The Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry facilitated this initiative to standardize reporting practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of the national MRI reporting template program.
• To identify discrepancies between 2016 Swedish MRI reports and the 2014 template.
• To explore variations in reporting content and completeness across hospitals.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative content analysis was performed on 250 MRI reports from 10 Swedish hospitals.
• A deductive thematic coding scheme, based on the national template, was utilized.
• Reports were categorized by identified reporting styles (A, B, and C).

Main Results:

• Three distinct reporting styles were identified: standardized structured protocol (A), standardized semi-structured free-text (B), and regular free-text (C).
• Reporting completeness varied significantly: Style A achieved 92.9%, Style B achieved 77.5%, and Style C achieved 63.9%.
• Significant gaps in content coverage were observed between reporting styles.

Conclusions:

• Implementing template-based reporting, particularly the standardized structured protocol (Style A), is crucial for adhering to evidence-based practices in rectal cancer MRI reporting.
• Standardized reporting significantly enhances the completeness and consistency of rectal cancer staging information.