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. 2023 Jun;14(2):318-323.
doi: 10.1007/s13193-022-01669-6. Epub 2022 Oct 26.

Incidental Findings in CT Scans on Screening for COVID-19

Shruti Valluri  1 , Harish Neelamraju Lakshmi  2 , Chinnababu Sunkavalli  2
Affiliations

Incidental Findings in CT Scans on Screening for COVID-19

Shruti Valluri et al. Indian J Surg Oncol. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Incidentalomas on computed tomography (CT) scans are incidental or unsuspected findings that are detected when obtaining a CT examination for an unrelated reason. Incidentalomas on CT scans are common. This study was conducted to examine the rates of incidental findings on CT chest in patients who were screened for COVID-19. Three thousand one hundred ninety-one CT scans were assessed for incidental findings. These CT scans were taken from an urban diagnostics laboratory in Hyderabad (IN) over a period of 2 months (April to May 2021) when the COVID-19 s wave peaked. Data from these reports were tabulated with demographic information and findings. Out of 3191 scans, 277 (8.68%) showed incidental findings, the most common of which was lung nodules and other individual findings. There were 6 total malignancies detected and a further 92 cases that required follow-up. CT scans are important for the detection of incidental findings. Care should be taken to follow up on patients with incidental findings that are undetermined to catch a lesion in the early stage.

Keywords: COVID-19; CT scans; Incidentalomas.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Pie graph of the distribution of incidental findings
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Bar graph of the distribution of incidental findings
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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