Rorschach radiology

Last revised by Ali Hajihashemi on 29 Nov 2022

Sometimes in radiology, we come across images that look odd, comical or surprisingly beautiful, and one may even wonder whether there is a subliminal message within.

The original Rorschach test deals with the interpretation of inkblots as a method of psychological assessment.  Here we challenge you to submit your own radiological "ink blots" and show us what you saw in them.

This is the first verse from a poem 1 written by Irwin Freundlich (1930-2017), an erudite American radiologist, which describes the underlying idea of the confrontation of Roentgen with Rorschach:

"Many things have been done, many battles won,
by the followers of the ray.
And the pioneers' light has improved our sight.
But to a man, we confuse if we can,
The realm of psychology with that of pathology,
The Rorschach and the Roentgen'gram." 

History and etymology

Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922) was a Swiss psychiatrist who devised his eponymous inkblot test, which he described in his book, Psychodiagnostik (English: Psychodiagnostics), first published in 1921 2. He died the following year from appendicitis.

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Cases and figures

  • Aortic dissection ♥
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  • Heart-shaped prostate (Rorschach radiology)
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  • "?" in the rectum
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  • Magnetic shamanism (Rorschach radiology)
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  • A clockwork orange
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  • Talocalcaneal duck with talar "beak"
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  • Cherry blossom biliary tree
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  • Declaration of love to a certain "J"
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  • Bronchogenic carcinoma mimicking a breast implant
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  • Empty heart shaped blighted ovum
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  •  Scotty dog
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  • Roses in radiography
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  • Gallbladder car
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  • Koala in sphenoid sinus
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  • Panda
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  • A smiley faced odontoid peg
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  • Hair on end (Rorschach radiology)
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  • Young woman
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  • Colonic tree
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  • Heart shaped venous varicosity
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  • Nerve root smily face
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  • Pokeball in pelvis
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  • Walking man
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  • Flat face
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  • Hepatic man
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  • Bowel chainsaw
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  • Hummingbird
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  • Heart-shaped thyroid cyst
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  • Liver duck
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  • Sacral pig
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  • Pelvic question mark
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  • Groin parrot
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  • Temporal artery?
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  • Sacral pig (another one)
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  • Eye mask (Rorschach radiology)
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  • Jumping dolphin - fetal stomach
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  • Heart-shaped intramuscular lipoma
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  • Cerebellar rooster
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  • Flower
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