title: Frequency and clinical relevance of PET/CT incidentalomas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the frequency of clinically significant incidental CT findings on PET/CT.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reports of 345 cases of baseline standard skull base to thighs PET/CT exams done over the course of a 6 month period at an outpatient facility affiliated with a large tertiary care level 1 trauma medical center were retrospectively reviewed. Incidental CT findings were assigned a level of clinical significance on a scale of 1-5, from doubtful significance to very significant. CT findings already known from prior CT reports were not included. CT findings corresponding to PET findings were also excluded. A score of 3 or greater was considered significant and reportable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 345 cases, 171 (50%) had a least one CT finding rated at or above a score of 3 on our scale of significance, while 96 (28%) were found to have at least one CT finding with score at or above 4, and 25 cases (7%) showed at least one CT finding rated 5.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A substantial percentage of baseline PET/CT studies contain previously undiagnosed, significant incidental findings on the CT images.
authors: Department of Radiology, All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine, 501 6th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA.
authors: William E
authors: WE
authors: Schaaf
authors: Zeal
authors: Z
authors: Patel
authors: Michele
authors: M
authors: Retrouvey
authors: Tina D
authors: TD
authors: Cunningham
authors: Lester S
authors: LS
authors: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18