Many of you guessed correctly that the problem with the MRI of the thorax posted yesterday was that it was actually a knee. I made the observation a while ago that there was something about axial knee MRI films that looked a little like the chest, so I decided to see if I could fool you guys.
Of course, your clue should have been that since I'm a physiatrist, it makes much more sense that I'd be looking at knee films. The only reason I'd be looking at an MRI of the thorax would be to see the vertebrae. And since there aren't any vertebrae in this knee MRI, that wouldn't do me much good.
I showed that to several of my classmates, we had some fun with it.
ReplyDeleteWould you mind if I stole this idea for my blog?
Jonathan: Steal away, as long as you grace me with a link.
ReplyDeleteI clearly have cancer on my mind, because I thought there was a giant retrosternal mass.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. I think that is actually a great teaching tool for the 'confirmational bias' phenomenon. If you are told it is a thorax you look for reasons to believe it is a thorax and convince yourself that it is one! :)
ReplyDeleteI think it is one of the biggest traps we easily fall into in medicine and your post proved that very well. Great post.
Win!
ReplyDeleteThanks Fizzy. I'll link you in my 'answer' post.. as I don't want people coming over here to cheat!
ReplyDeleteI was going to say it was a chest deformed by being in the negative pressure of an iron lung or somesuch. I guess I have a lot to learn....
ReplyDelete