Finding more than what you are looking for: a retrospective study of incidental findings in magnetic resonance imaging

Background Nearly 20% of the patients presenting to ENT department with audiovestibular symptoms are considered potential candidates for vestibular schwannoma screening. MRI scan done on these patients can also detect a large number of incidental findings. We did a retrospective descriptive study of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Egyptian journal of otolaryngology Vol. 38; no. 1
Main Authors Hanasoge, Raveesh, Pratap, Deepika, Warner, Giles Christian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Springer 01.12.2022
Subjects
Acoustic neuroma
Care and treatment
Magnetic resonance imaging
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
United Kingdom
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Background Nearly 20% of the patients presenting to ENT department with audiovestibular symptoms are considered potential candidates for vestibular schwannoma screening. MRI scan done on these patients can also detect a large number of incidental findings. We did a retrospective descriptive study of incidental findings identified on MRI scans done on patients presenting to the ENT department in a county hospital in United Kingdom from April 2020 to April 2021. All MRI reports were scrutinised and various incidental findings tabulated. The further management of patients with these findings were also analysed. Results A total of 159 MRIs were reviewed. The most common incidental finding was small vessel disease followed by old infarcts. Fifteen patients were found to have significant incidental findings. The detection rate of vestibular schwannoma was 3.1%. Conclusion With the increased use of imaging technology, the incidence of incidental findings has risen. Understanding the significance of these findings is important so that clinicians can counsel their patients and make appropriate management plans. Categorising the incidental findings into groups based on their level of significance may help in making these clinical decisions.
ISSN:1012-5574