| Incidental findings on cardiac computed tomography. Should we look? | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 19083887 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Although the intent of cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is to visualize the coronary, aortic, and cardiac structures, portions of noncardiac structures are visible on the scan. Because cardiac CT scanning is primarily obtained with a small field of view (to maximize coronary visualization with highest spatial resolution), some have argued that the scans should be secondarily reconstructed to further evaluate portions of the lung, breast, and bone. The suggested benefits of a routine radiologist overread of the extracardiac structures for incidental findings have not been scientifically validated and mostly come from anecdotal experiences. The same anecdotal arguments were used to support body scanning; the idea that complete visualization of all structures will lead to earlier cancer detection and therefore better outcomes. Every center that has ever offered body scanning can show a case of early detection of lung cancer, renal cancer, and colon cancer, thus proving their efficacy. However, body scanning has been uniformly discouraged, most strongly by the American College of Radiology and other professional organizations, because of the high number of false-positive findings, low ratio of true positives to false positives, high follow-up costs, and increased anxiety, all without proof of improvement in outcomes. Similar arguments were also made for routine chest x-rays in smokers, until studies showed that earlier detection of lung masses did not lead to improvement in outcomes. Preliminary studies are showing that enlarging the field for CTA scans to look for incidental findings will suffer the same fate as body scanning and chest x-rays, as another form of screening that cannot be medicolegally justified because of severely high false-positive rates and no improvement in outcomes. Until data are available to the opposite, we should use our good judgment and restraint and not perform large-field reconstructions for the explicit purpose of screening. |
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Authors:
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Matthew J Budoff; Ambarish Gopal |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article Date: 2007-05-18 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Journal of cardiovascular computed tomography Volume: 1 ISSN: 1876-861X ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2007 Oct |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2008-12-16 Completed Date: 2009-03-16 Revised Date: 2009-03-19 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101308347 Medline TA: J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 97-105 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA, Torrance, CA 90502, USA. mbudoff@labiomed.org |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Heart
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radiography* Humans Incidental Findings* Thoracic Diseases / radiography* Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods* |
| Comments/Corrections | |
Comment In:
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J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2008 Jan;2(1):64; author reply 64-5
[PMID:
19083922
]
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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