Two studies same patient/date merge

Merge two studies of the same patient and date into one.

Problem

Two DICOM studies from the same patient (same Patient ID) with close acquisition dates need to be merged into a single study for simplified archive management, or you need to verify they’re correctly grouped under the same patient in the Files tree. Studies from the same patient should naturally group together when Patient ID values match.

Steps

1. Open the files (⌘O) — load both studies (e.g. test.dcm and sr-test.dcm). If they share the same Patient ID, they group under separate study headers in the Files tree.

2. Verify grouping — switch to the Files tab. Two study headers should be visible if the studies have different Study Instance UIDs.

3. Merge the studies — use the Merge dropdown in the first study header and select the second study. Both series now appear under a single study header.

4. Verify the merge — one study header remains with all series rows grouped under it.

5. Drag-and-drop alternative — instead of the Merge dropdown, you can drag a series row from one study header and drop it onto another. Both methods produce the same result.

Expected Result

• Before merge: two study headers in the Files tree.
• After merge via dropdown or drag-and-drop: one study header, all series grouped together.
• The surviving study header retains its Study Instance UID; the absorbed study’s header is removed.
• All instances retain their SOP Instance UIDs — only the study-level grouping changes.