Incidental findings in magnetic resonance imaging of the brains of healthy young men.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency of serious intracranial abnormalities in a healthy young male population.


METHODS
Cranial MRI of 2,536 healthy young males, mean age 20.5 years, all applicants for military flying duties in the German Air Force.


RESULTS
The authors report a variety of morphological abnormalities in the brains of a large population of healthy young males, providing data on disease prevalence. Arachnoid cysts were found in 1.7% (95% CI 1.2 to 2.3%), vascular abnormalities in 0.51% (95% CI 0.29 to 0.9%), and intracranial tumors in 0.47% (95% CI 0.26 to 0.85%) of the applicants. No cerebral aneurysms were found.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of primary brain tumors seems to be higher, whereas the prevalence of intracranial aneurysms is lower than expected. Only a small percentage of the detected abnormalities require urgent medical attention.
Weber
Frank
F
Department of Neurology of the German Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine, PO Box 1264 KFL, D-82242 Fuerstenfeldbruck, Germany. frankweber@bundeswehr.org
Knopf
Heinz
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies