title: Prevalence and clinical significance of extracardiac findings in cardiovascular magnetic resonance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), incidental pathological findings are frequently found outside the investigated cardiovascular system. Some of these findings might have clinical implications. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of incidental extracardiac findings (ECF) in CMR and their clinical significance.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 4165 CMR reports from 2009-2012 were retrospectively reviewed for ECF. Two hundred-twenty reports with ECF were found. For each case, we obtained information on sex, age of the patient, reported ECF and radiologist recommendation. Follow-up data were analyzed by reviewing available electronic medical records. ECF was considered clinically significant if there was an associated diagnosis, additional treatment or further investigations in the clinical follow-up data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 356 ECF were recorded in 220 (5.3%) CMR reports. Sixty (23.7%) of the 253 ECF with follow-up data available were clinically significant. The most prevalent ECF were pleural effusions (n=54), kidney cysts (n=54), diffuse lung parenchyma changes (n=33) and liver cysts (n=29). Adrenal pathology (n=3, 100% significant), renal masses (n=3, 100%) and pulmonary masses (n=5, 62.5%) were the most clinically significant ECF. Although prevalence of these ECF was low, they were significant particularly frequently. When radiologist recommendations for further investigation were present in the report, the frequency of clinically significant ECF was higher compared to reports with no further investigation recommended (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, ECF in CMR were reported not very commonly (5.3%). A substantial part of ECF was clinically significant, changing patient diagnosis or management, with an overall prevalence of 1.3%.
authors.affiliation: Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Lithuania. Electronic address: agne.ulyte1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Agne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ulyte
authors.affiliation: Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Lithuania; Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Center, Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Klinikos, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Nomeda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Valeviciene
authors.affiliation: Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Lithuania; Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Center, Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Klinikos, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Darius
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Palionis
authors.affiliation: Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Lithuania; Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Center, Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Klinikos, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kundrotaite
authors.affiliation: Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Lithuania; Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Center, Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Klinikos, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Algirdas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamosiunas
keywords: cardiac imaging techniques; incidental findings; magnetic resonance imaging