Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2017 Jun;14(6):757-764.
doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2017.01.044. Epub 2017 May 3.

Focal Cystic Pancreatic Lesion Follow-up Recommendations After Publication of ACR White Paper on Managing Incidental Findings

Mark D Bobbin  1 , Ivan K Ip  1 , V Anik Sahni  2 , Atul B Shinagare  1 , Ramin Khorasani  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Focal Cystic Pancreatic Lesion Follow-up Recommendations After Publication of ACR White Paper on Managing Incidental Findings

Mark D Bobbin et al. J Am Coll Radiol. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the variation in radiologists' follow-up recommendations for focal cystic pancreatic lesions (FCPL) after publication of the 2010 ACR incidental findings White Paper and determine adherence to guidance of the ACR Incidental Findings Committee.

Methods: Institutional Review Board approval was obtained for this retrospective, HIPAA-compliant observational study. Patients with FCPL were identified from abdominal CT and MRI reports generated in 2013 using natural language processing software. Patient-, lesion-, and radiologist-specific variables were recorded. Primary outcome was whether a follow-up recommendation was made, and if it included a specific study or intervention and recommended time for follow-up. χ2 and logistic regression models were used to identify predictors and controlled for recommendation. These data were compared with 2009 data obtained before the White Paper's publication. Secondary outcome was adherence to the ACR's guidance.

Results: During calendar year 2013, 1,377 reports describing FCPLs were identified in 1,038 patients. After excluding examinations from low-volume readers (n = 80), radiologists recommended follow-up imaging in 13.5% (175/1,297) of cases, a decrease from 2009 when it was recommended in 23.7% (221/933) of cases (P < .001). Findings were consistent across radiologists after controlling for patient- and lesion-specific variables. Variability in follow-up recommendations persists between radiologists (2.4-fold difference in 2013 versus 2.8-fold difference in 2009). Radiologists adhered to ACR guidance principles 47.4% of the time.

Conclusions: Despite published guidance recommendations and reported awareness of them, fewer than half of follow-up recommendations for FCPL are consistent with the guidance and considerable variability persists among radiologists.

Keywords: Focal cystic pancreatic lesion; follow-up; recommendations.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources