PURPOSE: To assess the prevalence of noncardiac findings (NCFs) in a consecutive series of 300 cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) studies. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated CMRs of 192 males and 108 females (42 ± 22 years), comparing findings included in reports to those detected after focused reassessment of CMR images. Noncardiac findings were classified as relevant if additional workup was required. RESULTS: We found 19 NCFs, 14 (4.7%) tagged as nonrelevant and 5 (1.7%) as relevant. Images' reassessment presented 45 NCFs, 26 (8.7%) nonrelevant and 16 (5.3%) relevant (P < 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac magnetic resonance involves the study of areas larger than the heart alone, and NCFs are found in 1 of 7 patients; more than a half of them are not included in the initial CMR report. A small part is relevant, but detection can be unnecessarily stressful and harmful for patients and could increase costs. Risks of overdiagnosis or underreporting are to be taken into account.
PURPOSE: To assess the prevalence of noncardiac findings (NCFs) in a consecutive series of 300 cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) studies. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated CMRs of 192 males and 108 females (42 ± 22 years), comparing findings included in reports to those detected after focused reassessment of CMR images. Noncardiac findings were classified as relevant if additional workup was required. RESULTS: We found 19 NCFs, 14 (4.7%) tagged as nonrelevant and 5 (1.7%) as relevant. Images' reassessment presented 45 NCFs, 26 (8.7%) nonrelevant and 16 (5.3%) relevant (P < 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac magnetic resonance involves the study of areas larger than the heart alone, and NCFs are found in 1 of 7 patients; more than a half of them are not included in the initial CMR report. A small part is relevant, but detection can be unnecessarily stressful and harmful for patients and could increase costs. Risks of overdiagnosis or underreporting are to be taken into account.
Authors: Maryam Ghadimi Mahani; Ajaykumar C Morani; Jimmy C Lu; Soudabeh Fazeli Dehkordy; Sunil Jeph; Adam L Dorfman; Prachi P Agarwal Journal: Pediatr Radiol Date: 2016-01-11
Authors: Luca Maria Sconfienza; Giovanni Mauri; Claudia Muzzupappa; Alessandro Poloni; Michele Bandirali; Anastassia Esseridou; Stefania Tritella; Francesco Secchi; Giovanni Di Leo; Francesco Sardanelli Journal: World J Radiol Date: 2015-10-28