The RANZCR key conditions assessment is an assessment mandated by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) for first year radiology trainees prior to starting after-hours work and on-call duties.
The assessment is conducted locally by the training site, where clinical supervisors select a minimum of 16 cases from the key conditions categories (see below) as a "mock list" to assess a trainee's competency in radiological diagnosis. These represent conditions which may be life-threatening if undiagnosed over a period of 12 hours, and are typically encountered in emergency and trauma.
Trainees are given both formal and informal teaching sessions prior to undertaking the assessment, which usually occurs between four to six months after commencement of training.
On this page:
Conditions
Around 100 conditions (encompassing both adults and pediatrics) are listed in the RANZCR Clinical Radiology Curriculum Learning Outcomes 2 which divides them into the following categories:
Brain
parenchymal/intracerebral hemorrhage (traumatic and non-traumatic)
acute vessel thromboembolic occlusion with an associated stroke syndrome
intracranial venous thrombosis including venous sinus thrombosis and associated hemorrhage and/or venous infarction
Head and neck
Spine
vertebral fractures including occipital condyle, Jefferson, odontoid, hangman's, burst, Chance/distraction, compression, hyperflexion, hyperextension, and apophyseal ring
spinal cord injury including contusion, hemorrhage and transection
discitis/osteomyelitis including pyogenic, tuberculous, granulomatous, chronic recurrent multifocal
facet septic arthritis
Cardiothoracic
rib fractures including flail chest
pneumothorax including non-traumatic
hemothorax including non-traumatic
atelectasis including lobar collapse
pneumonia (lobar/bronchopneumonia) including community-acquired, institutional/nosocomial, aspiration, and neonatal
bacterial infections including pneumococcal, staphylococcal, klebsiella, MRSA, legionella, nocardia, and actinomycosis
pulmonary vascular congestion and edema
pulmonary thrombosis and thromboembolism including acute and chronic
cardiac failure (left and right)
thoracic aortic atherosclerosis including penetrating ulcer
thoracic aortic aneurysm including rupture
thoracic aortic intramural hematoma and aortic dissection
Abdominal and pelvic
esophageal obstruction including stenosis, achalasia, web, ring, and motility disorders
intestinal ischemia including ischemic colitis
diverticular disease and complications including diverticulitis
cholecystitis including acute calculous, acute acalculous, chronic, xanthogranulomatous, emphysematous, and empyema
cholangitis including primary, sclerosing, recurrent pyogenic, and autoimmune (IgG4)
pancreatitis including acute and chronic, including pseudocysts and other complications
pyelonephritis including acute and chronic, xanthogranulomatous and emphysematous
renal trauma including renovascular injury and urinoma
cystitis including knowing cystitis cystica, cystitis glangularis and eosinophilic cystitis
scrotal/testicular trauma including hematocele
torsion including testis and testicular appendage, and segmental infarction
splenic rupture including traumatic, spontaneous and delayed
trauma including mesenteric injury, hemoperitoneum and diaphragmatic rupture
intra-abdominal abscess
abdominal aortic atherosclerosis, aneurysm, pseudoaneurysm, dissection, and rupture
Musculoskeletal
fracture including greenstick, bowing, Salter-Harris, buckle/torus, pathological, delayed union, and non-union with assessment of stability
subluxation and dislocation including assessment of stability
fracture-dislocation including Monteggia, Galeazzi, Lisfranc injuries with assessment of stability
infectious arthritis including suppurative (septic arthritis)
Obstetrics and gynecology
NB: Details are correct at the time of writing. Please check with RANZCR for updated details.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital playlists
The radiology department at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, in conjunction with Radiopaedia, has developed a series of playlists covering the essentials of emergency radiology, aimed primarily at junior radiology registrars 3.