Potentially relevant incidental findings on research whole-body MRI in the general adult population: frequencies and management.
OBJECTIVE
To report the frequencies of potentially relevant incidental findings in the general adult population and to develop a protocol for their management in whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (wb-MRI).


METHODS
A total of 2,500 adult subjects (1,271 women, 1,229 men; mean age 53 years) from the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania underwent standardised wb-MRI. Additionally, 1,129 participants received contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI, 619 men received MR angiography and 544 women received MR mammography. Two independent residents performed first-line reading. A third reader resolved disagreements. An interdisciplinary advisory board decided about disclosure.


RESULTS
There were 1,330 incidental findings of potential clinical relevance in 904 subjects (36.2 %). Nine findings (0.4 %) required immediate referral. In total, 1,052 findings (79.1 %) were confirmed by the advisory board and disclosed to 787 participants (31.5 %). The abdominal organs (6.8 %), the urinary tract (6.8 %) and the skeletal system (6.0 %) were affected most often. While 383 findings (36.4 %) were indicated as benign and 62 (5.9 %) as malignant, most abnormalities, 607 (57.7 %), were of an unclear nature.


CONCLUSIONS
Potentially relevant incidental findings are very common in wb-MRI research but the nature of these findings remains unclear in most cases. This requires dedicated management to protect subjects' welfare and research integrity.
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Str. 1, 17475 Greifswald, Germany. katrin.hegenscheid@uni-greifswald.de
Katrin
K
Hegenscheid
Rebecca
R
Seipel
Carsten O
CO
Schmidt
Henry
H
Völzke
Jens-Peter
JP
Kühn
Reiner
R
Biffar
Heyo K
HK
Kroemer
Norbert
N
Hosten
Ralf
R
Puls
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*