[Transmission of examination results to patients: opinion of referring physicians and patients].

Patients frequently ask the nuclear medicine physician or the radiologist for conclusions at completion of a diagnostic procedure. The present study tried to assess opinions from both patients and referring physicians. Answers from both parties were grossly discordant: most of the referring physicians thought patients should not be given results of a diagnostic procedure by the nuclearist or radiologist an approach most of the patients disagreed with. Deontological guidelines of the official Belgian association do not authorize nuclear medicine physicians nor radiologists to give the patients any result directly; according to our data, this rule should be adapted.