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Prevalence of incidental or unexpected findings on low‐dose CT performed during routine SPECT/CT nuclear medicine studies
Author(s) -
Yap Kelvin KwokHo,
Ramaseshan Ganesh,
Sutherland Tom,
ShafikEid Raymond,
Taubman Kim,
Schlicht Stephen
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of medical imaging and radiation oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1754-9485
pISSN - 1754-9477
DOI - 10.1111/1754-9485.12254
Subject(s) - medicine , radiology , clinical significance , nuclear medicine , pathology
Abstract Introduction In nuclear medicine, single‐photon‐emission computed tomography ( SPECT ) is often combined with ‘simultaneous’ low‐dose CT ( LDCT ) to provide complementary anatomical and functional correlation. As a consequence, numerous incidental and unexpected findings may be detected on LDCT . Recognition of these findings and appropriate determination of their relevance can add to the utility of SPECT/CT . We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and categorise the relevance of incidental and unexpected findings on LDCT scans performed as part of routine SPECT/CT studies. Methods All available LDCT scans performed as part of SPECT/CT studies at S t. V incent's H ospital M elbourne in the year 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Two qualified radiologists independently reviewed the studies and any previous available imaging and categorised any detected incidental findings. Results A total of 2447 LDCT studies were reviewed. The relevance of the findings was classified according to a modified version of a scale used in the Colonography Reporting and Data System: E 1 = normal or normal variant (28.0%); E 2 = clinically unimportant (63.5%); E 3 = likely unimportant or incompletely characterised (6.2%); E 4 = potentially important (2.5%). Conclusion Imaging specialists need to be cognisant of incidental and unexpected findings present on LDCT studies performed as part of SPECT/CT . Appropriate categorisation of findings and communication of potentially important findings to referring clinicians should form part of routine practice. The overall prevalence of potentially significant incidental and unexpected findings in our series was 8.7% ( E 3, 6.2%; E 4, 2.5%) and was comparable to rates in other published imaging series.