To all research teams accessing the BC Children's Hospital MRI Research Facility:
Unless your study protocol involves a formal clinical evaluation and written report by a radiologist, please revise your consent and assent forms the next time your research project is up for ethics renewal to include the following statement:
Incidental Findings:
As a voluntary participant in a UBC research study, you would be giving your consent to have a research MRI scan, which is designed to answer research questions under the direction of the Principal Investigator of the study, rather than to provide diagnostic medical imaging. As such, this MRI scan is not a substitute for one a doctor would order for a patient with a medical problem. Research MRI scans may not show problems that would be picked up by a medical MRI scan designed to evaluate specific medical problems. Research MRI scans are not automatically reviewed by medical doctors, and no medical reports are written on research MRI scans. Information generated in this study does not become part of your medical record.
However, after you have had a research MRI scan, if the research team believes that they may have found something unexpected, the Principal Investigator may request review of your research MRI scan by a radiologist, a medical specialist trained in the reading of diagnostic medical MRI scans. If the radiologist thinks that an unexpected medical finding in your MRI research scan requires further action, the Principal Investigator will be advised of this and will contact you and assist you to get appropriate medical follow-up from your family physician or another appropriate healthcare provider.
Notes:
This wording has been approved by the UBC/C&W Research Ethics Board (November 16, 2023).
Approved by the BCCH MRI Research Facility Protocol Review Committee
July 27, 2023