We told the patient the diagnosis. The patient said nothing. We explained some essential details. The patient said nothing. We showed him several details on the images. The patient said nothing. We asked the patient whether he understood the explanations. The patient said nothing. The patient’s face showed a smile. This smile said everything. This smile told us that the patient was satisfied with the examination, and the subsequent explanations. Face to face, we stayed together. For a few minutes, no one said anything. Then the patient raised his eyebrows and said something like: “I have never seen such images before. I have never seen my vessels before. How interesting. How impressive. Wow, I have large and small and very small vessels. Finally, but most importantly, I am impressed that my vessels have first names and surnames. Everything looks very nice, and very esthetically pleasing.” The patient’s enthusiasm prompted me to paint a picture. Once finished, I completely agreed: radiologic images are not only important tools for diagnosis and medical decision-making, but have an esthetic quality, too.
Footnotes
This article has been peer reviewed.
This is a true story, although it happened long ago. Pertinent details have been changed so that the patient cannot self-identify.