title: Clinical impact of incidental diagnosis of disease on non-contrast-enhanced helical CT for acute ureteral colic.
abstract: The role of un enhanced helical CT (UHCT) in the evaluation of acute flank pain suggestive of urinary tract calculi is increasingly appreciated in the last few years. Recent studies have identified the advantages of UHCT in recognizing alternative findings within or outside the urinary tract. These incidental diagnoses on UHCT alter a patient's management and demonstrate the pivotal role of UHCT in rapidly triaging these patients for appropriate management. Clinical impact of incidental diagnoses is maximal in identifying alternate emergent conditions mimicking reno-ureteric colic and in identifying malignancies at an early stage when they are potentially curable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. hammad.ather@aku.edu
authors.forename: M Hammad
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ather
authors.forename: Wasim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Memon
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rees
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D003085:Colic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000379:methods; D014513:Ureter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014515:Ureteral Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014571:Urologic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy