Incidental research imaging findings

A healthy adult volunteers to serve as a control subject in an fMRI study. The subject provides informed consent, and a tailored protocol designed for the particular study then is executed. In most cases, the research subject altruistically assumes that the result will benefit science in some way. However, does science owe the volunteer a fair assessment of the information not relevant to the focus of the investigation (i.e., should the images be read by a capable individual who has facility to detect abnormalities and can render an opinion of what constitutes normal)? In the article by Illes et al.1 in this issue of Neurology , the incidence of abnormal findings in 151 research scans, requiring physician referral, was 6.6%. The authors state that most of the findings were not detected or reported to the participants. This is a problem and highlights several issues associated with imaging research. First, some MR research—particularly fMRI—is performed by scientists who are not skilled at image …