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Purpose: To assess the prevalence and clinical significance of incidental findings (IFs) detected at multiparametric prostate MRI examination. Materials and methods: Multiparametric prostate MRIs of 647 consecutive patients (mean age 67.1 ± 8.0 years) were retrospectively evaluated by two radiologists recording the presence of all extra-prostatic IFs. Findings were classified as related to or not related to genitourinary system and divided into three classes, according to their clinical significance, as follows: group 1, not significant or scarcely significant; group 2, moderately or potentially significant; and group 3, significant. Differences in distribution of IFs between patients ≤ 65 years old and patients > 65 years old were assessed using Pearson's χ2 or Fisher's exact test. Statistical significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: Incidental findings (n = 461) were present in 341 (52.7%) patients, while 306 (47.3%) patients did not have any extra-prostatic IF. Overall, IFs were significantly more common in patients > 65 years old (n = 225, 57.0%) compared to patients ≤ 65 years old (n = 116, 46.0%, p = 0.007). There were 139 (30.2%) IFs related to genitourinary system and 322 (69.8%) IFs not related to genitourinary system. Group 3 IFs were almost exclusively present in patients > 65 years old (2.8%, p = 0.034) and included 7 (1.1%) bladder carcinomas, 3 (0.5%) testicle tumors, 2 (0.3%) rectal cancers. Twenty-seven (4.2%) of the 647 patients underwent surgical treatment for IFs not directly related to prostate cancer. Conclusion: IFs not related to prostate cancer may be frequently encountered on multiparametric prostate MRI, and they are significantly more common in patients > 65 years old. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the incidence of collateral findings detected on whole-body magnetic resonance (WB-MRI) scans performed on patients with lymphoma. Materials and methods: 114 patients (65 male; median age 45.2 years, range 15-86) with histologically confirmed lymphoma (47 Hodgkin, 67 Non-Hodgkin) underwent WB-MRI. The collateral findings were classified into three classes, according to their clinical significance, as follows: not or low significant (class 1), moderately or potentially significant (class 2), and significant (class 3). A Chi-square ( χ ) test was performed to assess the statistical significance of differences in the incidence of collateral findings based on age (≤50 and >50 years old), gender and histology (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma). Results: Ninety-one of 114 patients (79.8 %) had one or more incidental findings on WB-MRI. Collateral findings were more frequent in class 1 (43 %); abnormalities found in 35 patients (30.7 %) were considered potentially significant, whereas seven patients (6.1 %) demonstrated significant collateral findings requiring immediate treatment or further diagnostic evaluation. Collateral findings were more frequent in subjects over 50 years old compared to those of 50 years old or younger; differences were statistical significant ( χ = 8.42, p < 0.05). There were not statistically significant differences related to gender ( χ = 0.17, p > 0.05) and histology ( χ = 0.24, p > 0.05). Conclusion: WB-MRI is an attractive procedure that allows to detect incidental abnormalities of organs not involved by disease offering the opportunity to obtain an early diagnosis of asymptomatic life-threatening diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of collateral findings detected in computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) in a multi-center registry. Materials and methods: We performed a retrospective review of 4303 patients (2719 males, mean age 60.3 ± 10.2 years) undergoing 64-slice CTCA for suspected or known coronary artery disease (CAD) at various academic institutions between 01/2006 and 09/2010. Collateral findings were recorded and scored as: non-significant (no signs of relevant pathology, not necessary to be reported), significant (clear signs of pathology, mandatory to be reported), or major (remarkable pathology, mandatory to be reported and further investigated). Results: We detected 6886 non-cardiac findings (1.6 non cardiac finding per patient). Considering all centers, only 865/4303 (20.1 %) patients were completely without any additional finding. Overall, 2095 (30.4 %) non-significant, 4486 (65.2 %) significant, and 305 (4.4 %) major findings were detected. Among major findings, primary lung cancer was reported in 21 cases. In every center, most prevalent significant findings were mediastinal lymph nodes >1 cm. In 256 patients, collateral findings were clinically more relevant than coexisting CAD and justified the symptoms of patients. Conclusions: The prevalence of significant and major collateral findings in CTCA is high. Radiologists should carefully evaluate the entire scan volume in each patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Chest computed tomography (CT) scanning is increasingly used as an imaging technique in patients undergoing atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation. Chest CT scans visualize organs other than the heart and collateral findings may be identified incidentally. Our study aims to assess the prevalence and clinical relevance of such collateral findings in patients undergoing AF ablation. Methods and results One hundred and seventy-three patients (127 males, age 59 ± 10 years) underwent chest CT scan for image integration in AF ablation. Collateral findings from visualized thoracic and upper abdominal organs were collected. Findings that required further investigations or treatment according to current guidelines were considered as clinically significant. A total of 164 collateral findings were identified in 97 (56%) patients, and most patients showed abnormalities of the lungs (67 patients, 39%). Forty-nine (28%) patients had clinically significant findings needing further investigation and 17 (10%) of them required specific treatments, including three cases (1.7 %) of lung malignancy. Conclusions Chest CT images acquired for integration in AF ablation should be read thoroughly as they may serve as a screening tool for otherwise unrecognized clinically significant conditions of the heart, lungs, or other visualized organs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of La Radiologia Medica is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of La Radiologia Medica is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Catheter ablation (CA) is an effective technique for the management of atrial fibrillation (AF). Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) is a non-invasive imaging modality that is used as a crucial part of planning before CA procedures which can detect other incidental findings and require further diagnostic investigations., Objectives: We sought to assess the prevalence and distribution of incidental CCT findings in patients with AF undergoing CA., Methods: Retrospective analysis over a three-year period (2013-2016) of 218 patients undergoing CCT prior to AF CA. CCT findings were analyzed and incident clinically important findings were reported., Results: Over the three-year period, 218 patients had undergone CCT. Of these, 28.8% showed clinically significant incidental findings in the chest and upper abdomen. Incidental findings included coronary artery disease (CAD), incomplete cor triatriatum, pericardial effusion, pleural effusion, pulmonary nodules, pulmonary infiltrates, pulmonary mass, thoracic aortic aneurysm, mediastinal nodes, abdominal mass, and liver nodules., Conclusions: CCT is a cornerstone investigation prior to AF CA and can show multiple incidental findings, thus potentially functioning as a screening method for the detection of other significant conditions. There is still a debate whether further workup is needed or not as most findings will eventually be benign and further investigations could mean financial burden and clinical risks to the patients. Further larger prospective studies are needed with long-term follow-up to determine whether incidental findings on CCT have an impact on the long-term outcomes of patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2022, Hamed et al.)

The growing number of atrial fibrillation catheter ablation procedures warranted the development of advanced cardiac mapping techniques, such as image integration between electroanatomical map and cardiac computed tomography. While scanning the chest before catheter ablation, it is frequent to detect cardiac and extracardiac collateral findings. Most collateral findings are promptly recognized as benign and do not require further attention. However, sometimes clinically relevant collateral findings are detected, which often warrant extra diagnostic examinations or even invasive procedure, and sometimes need to be followed-up over time. Even though reporting and further investigating collateral findings has not shown a clear survival benefit, almost all the working groups providing data on collateral findings reported some collateral findings eventually coming out to be malignancies, sometimes at an early stage. Therefore, there is currently no clear agreement about the right strategy to be followed.