Incidentalomas are an ever-increasing presence in imaging, Reuters Health reported this week, but they often do more harm than good, according to a recent review of more than half a million patients.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, details how incidentalomas—or accidental masses found in a patient’s body while they undergo imaging for something different altogether—are becoming more common as more people opt for high-tech, high-resolution imaging options.
MRI, PET and CT, alongside a handful of other modalities, can now catch abnormalities that once went undetected on older equipment, according to Reuters. Lead study author and University of Oxford doctor Jack O’Sullivan said almost all doctors practicing today could tell you a story about an incidentaloma.
“We know that the diagnosis of incidentalomas can cause patient anxiety and is likely to lead to further investigations and treatment, some of which will be unnecessary and some of which will cause harm,” O’Sullivan told Reuters.
Some scans, like full-body PET, detect incidentalomas at a low rate, he said—in that case, just 2 percent. But other scans, like heart and chest CTs, find them 45 percent of the time. That’s significant when, upon further evaluation, less than half of those masses actually turn out to be cancerous.
O’Sullivan and his co-authors said one of the best ways to avoid the strife and anxiety that often comes with incidentalomas is to avoid over-imaging.
“They should not be used as a health check in persons having no symptoms, and we should avoid unnecessary imaging in order to reduce exposure to radiation, especially in young people,” Camilla Schalin-Jantti, of Helsinki University Hospital in Finland, said.
Read the full report from Reuters here:
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.