title: Incidence and pathology of repeat CT abdomen and pelvis in an adult emergency department population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our objective was to identify the incidence of adult patients who undergo more than one computed tomography (CT) abdomen and pelvis within 1 year and detect the incidence of significant pathology on these repeat scans.
  
  
  METHODS
  All adults with an initial CT within 12 months and then during an emergency department visit were retrospectively identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A percentage of 21.1 of the repeat CT scans were positive. Approximately 20% of positive repeat CT scans occurred within the first month and nearly 70% within 6 months of the initial CT scan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many patients undergo multiple CT scans within a 1 year time frame with significant pathology identified.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY. Electronic address: bhahn@nshs.edu.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akita
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY.
authors.forename: Lane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rankin
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scibilia
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trovato
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Radiology, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Radiology, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hirschorn
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D010388:Pelvis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Computed tomography; Emergency department; Radiation; Utilization