From the editor’s desk: Whose case is it, anyway?

patient is admitted for nonspecific symptoms and undergoes an imaging examination at the time of admission. A radiology resident is asked to provide a preliminary interpretation for the primary medical service. The resident lists a few differential possibilities for the patient’s diagnosis but summarizes by stating what he or she believes to be the specific, single diagnosis. Since this favored diagnosis is a rather rare entity, the resident seeks a second opinion before submitting the preliminary report and informally phones an attending radiologist (#1) who happens to be working a shift at another hospital. Radiologist #1 views the case and tells the resident that the proposed diagnosis is a possibility. The next morning, another attending radiologist (#2) reviews the case, agrees with the resident’s interpretation, and creates the final and official report for this patient’s imaging examination. A few days later, the resident follows up on the case and receives confirmation that his or her favored diagnosis was indeed correct. Excited by this news, the resident begins to gather the radiologic images, pathology slides, and clinical information, in the hopes of creating a case report. However, radiologist #1 states that he or she has already asked another resident to write the case report for this patient. Radiologist #1 justifies this stance by his or her more senior position and the use of his or her more seasoned opinion in corroborating the diagnosis. The resident is upset by this interaction and asks his or her training program for mediation. This scenario highlights the complex environment in which case reports are often spawned and leads us to ask, "Whose case is it, anyway?" Certainly, the resident is justified in having proprietary feelings for the case, since he or she was the first to suggest the actual, rare diagnosis. However, being a trainee, does he or she need the backing of an attending radiologist? Radiologist #1 can justify some proprietary feelings by stating that his or her corroboration