title: The incidental bone lesion on computed tomography: management tips for abdominal radiologists.
abstract: Incidental bone lesions are commonly seen on abdominal and pelvic computed tomography (CT) examinations. These incidental bone lesions can be diagnostically challenging to the abdominal radiologist who may not be familiar with their appearance or their appropriate management. The characterization of such bone lesions as non-aggressive or aggressive based on their CT appearance involves similar principles to their morphologic evaluation on radiographs. Knowledge of the age of the patient and the presence of symptoms, mainly bone pain, can improve analysis. Examples of bone lesions that may be encountered include solitary or multifocal bone lesions, osteochondromatous and chondroid tumors, Paget's disease, avascular necrosis/bone infarctions, iatrogenic lesions, and periarticular lesions. This pictorial essay aims to provide a framework for the analysis of incidental bone lesions on CT and when further imaging and clinical work-up should be recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Ave. MC 114, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive S056 MC 5105, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beaulieu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.|Department of Radiology, San Francisco VA Medical Center, 4150 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA, 94121, USA.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weinstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Ave. MC 114, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA. lshin@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Lewis K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Bone lesions; Computed tomography; Incidental findings; Musculoskeletal CT