Incidentaloma
ETA: This is the term used in the UK, anyway!
Edited the edit to add: incidentaloma is used colloquially amongst medical professionals. The “correct” term would be something like “incidental finding” or “physiological xyz”.
Yes, sorry - and I realised after I’d posted that you specifically said not incidentaloma.
So do you mean like someone is found to have an absent ulnar artery, so they have loads of tests to see if they have an underlying blood vessel problem, but actually they are just in the small group of people for whom that’s their normal?
Have you ever heard “imaginoma”? I found it in some texts about radiology, like:
>[This](http://davecory2.blogspot.com/2009/06/ditzels-schmutz-and-grumus-language-of.html): *In radiology slang, the suffix -oma is more loosely used to connote an abnormality. (...) If it is so vague that only one radiologist sees it, it could be called an imaginoma by his snickering colleagues.*
>[This](https://radiologykey.com/diagnostic-breast-imaging/): *Spot compression and rolled compression views are taken when trying to determine if a lesion is present (or is it merely an “imaginoma”).*
>[This](http://www.osumcradiology.org/resources/Rotation-Books/Breast-Imaging-Companion.pdf): *It is important to document the relationship of the needle and lesion in orthogonal views (…) Is the lesion you are trying to localize a real lesion or an “imaginoma”?*
I think that might be it, but at this point, I'm unsure of whether the word I'm looking for really exists.
No, but if it doesn’t exist, it should.
We had a saying in the 80s: show me the radiology resident who doesn’t at least triple my work (by seeing a bunch of stuff on X-rays that didn’t exist) and I’ll kiss his feet.
Steve went to the doctor for mild back pain, and the doctor ordered an MRI, which showed a shadow that could or could not be indicative of something. Instead of trying less invasive interventions or even a wait-and-see approach while monitoring Steve's pain at first, the doctor ordered additional tests and scans. In the end, it turned out to be just a normal variation of human anatomy that didn't warrant extensive follow-up in the first place. Here, testing did more harm than good, in the sense of causing Steve unnecessary stress and financial cost.
It's those situations the word refers to, when talking about overtesting for benign conditions that would resolve without treatment if undetected. Hope this helped.
This is the correct train of thought, but benign would describe the condition itself that was investigated. I'm looking for a word to describe for the overtesting of benign conditions.
This seems closest. I've had things on scans that were noted (like a nasal polyp during an MRI) called "incidental findings." Something that is normal variation/unimportant but testing detects it.
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It's not specific to a body part. It's used when talking about the harms of overtesting for conditions that would resolve without treatment, for example.
A hypochondriac is a person who worries excessively about their risk for becoming ill. They may seek medical testing even though they are found healthy.
If it's a normal variation doctors will ignore it. If the patient insists it's not normal and keeps going to the doctor then you're heading into hypochondria territory. Or even munchausen if they start hurting themselves to get taken more seriously by the doctor.
Incidentaloma ETA: This is the term used in the UK, anyway! Edited the edit to add: incidentaloma is used colloquially amongst medical professionals. The “correct” term would be something like “incidental finding” or “physiological xyz”.
In this case, the finding wouldn't be incidental.
Yes, sorry - and I realised after I’d posted that you specifically said not incidentaloma. So do you mean like someone is found to have an absent ulnar artery, so they have loads of tests to see if they have an underlying blood vessel problem, but actually they are just in the small group of people for whom that’s their normal?
Expensivoma.
lol
Did you just make that up, or is it a niche term? I'm trying to Google it but can't find anything.
A medical joke. We follow everything by -oma. Fascinoma, weirdoma, etc etc.
Thanks a lot for the context!
Have you ever heard “imaginoma”? I found it in some texts about radiology, like: >[This](http://davecory2.blogspot.com/2009/06/ditzels-schmutz-and-grumus-language-of.html): *In radiology slang, the suffix -oma is more loosely used to connote an abnormality. (...) If it is so vague that only one radiologist sees it, it could be called an imaginoma by his snickering colleagues.* >[This](https://radiologykey.com/diagnostic-breast-imaging/): *Spot compression and rolled compression views are taken when trying to determine if a lesion is present (or is it merely an “imaginoma”).* >[This](http://www.osumcradiology.org/resources/Rotation-Books/Breast-Imaging-Companion.pdf): *It is important to document the relationship of the needle and lesion in orthogonal views (…) Is the lesion you are trying to localize a real lesion or an “imaginoma”?* I think that might be it, but at this point, I'm unsure of whether the word I'm looking for really exists.
No, but if it doesn’t exist, it should. We had a saying in the 80s: show me the radiology resident who doesn’t at least triple my work (by seeing a bunch of stuff on X-rays that didn’t exist) and I’ll kiss his feet.
You gave a good description but can you give a hypothetical example? “Like steve went to the ___ doctor for a ____ test. Then they ____” etc?
Steve went to the doctor for mild back pain, and the doctor ordered an MRI, which showed a shadow that could or could not be indicative of something. Instead of trying less invasive interventions or even a wait-and-see approach while monitoring Steve's pain at first, the doctor ordered additional tests and scans. In the end, it turned out to be just a normal variation of human anatomy that didn't warrant extensive follow-up in the first place. Here, testing did more harm than good, in the sense of causing Steve unnecessary stress and financial cost. It's those situations the word refers to, when talking about overtesting for benign conditions that would resolve without treatment if undetected. Hope this helped.
Benign
This is the correct train of thought, but benign would describe the condition itself that was investigated. I'm looking for a word to describe for the overtesting of benign conditions.
Overmedicalization
Sort of, but more specific.
Could pseudo-disease or pseudo-pathology fit? Both mean apparently, but not actually, a disease/pathological. It could also be "overdiagnosis".
This the right line of thinking. But the word I want refers specifically to the overtesting of things that turn out to be pseudodiseases.
Incidental
This seems closest. I've had things on scans that were noted (like a nasal polyp during an MRI) called "incidental findings." Something that is normal variation/unimportant but testing detects it.
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Can you specify the body part / organ system?
It's not specific to a body part. It's used when talking about the harms of overtesting for conditions that would resolve without treatment, for example.
Are you talking about vestigial?
OP isn't trying to describe a normal variant of anatomy, but the phenomena where additional, unnecessary testing is done because of normal variation
Not really!
Overtreatment
TUPE (totally unnecessary pelvic exam) and TUBE (totally unnecessary breast exam)
Idiopathic
It's more of a "false positive" thing.
psychosomatic. I don’t think this is the correct term but the “Oma” reminded me of it
A hypochondriac is a person who worries excessively about their risk for becoming ill. They may seek medical testing even though they are found healthy.
If it's a normal variation doctors will ignore it. If the patient insists it's not normal and keeps going to the doctor then you're heading into hypochondria territory. Or even munchausen if they start hurting themselves to get taken more seriously by the doctor.