TY - JOUR
T1 - Pertinent reportable incidental cardiac findings on chest CT without electrocardiography gating
T2 - Review of 268 consecutive cases
AU - Choy, Garry
AU - Kröpil, Patric
AU - Scherer, Axel
AU - El-Sherief, Ahmed H.
AU - Chung, Jonathan
AU - Rojas, Carlos A.
AU - Abbara, Suhny
PY - 2013/5
Y1 - 2013/5
N2 - Background: Pertinent reportable cardiac findings on non- electrocardiography (ECG)-gated chest CT examinations have become easier to detect given recent advancements in multidetector CT technology. However, those findings are easily overlooked on routine chest CT without ECG gating given residual inherent cardiac motion artifact and non-cardiac indications. Purpose: To describe and quantify the types of pertinent reportable cardiac findings that can be detected on chest CT examinations without ECG gating and evaluate how often they were reported. Material and Methods: Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed (blinded to the original interpretation) 268 consecutive routine adult chest CT examinations without ECG gating for the presence of pertinent reportable cardiac findings. Retrospective interpretations were then compared with the original radiological reports. Results: One hundred and sixty-three patients (61%) had pertinent reportable cardiac findings. The findings encountered included: coronary artery disease (n = 131; 80.0%), coronary artery bypass grafts (n = 10; 6.1%), left ventricular aneurysm (n = 1; 0.6%), valve calcification (n = 131; 80.0%), valve repair/replacement (n = 5; 3.1%), pericardial effusion (n = 33; 20.2%), left atrial appendage thrombus (n = 1; 0.6%), cardiac mass (n = 1; 0.6%), and cardiac chamber enlargement (n = 29; 17.8%). On the original radiological reports 22.3% of the pertinent reportable cardiac findings, detected by the two radiologists retrospectively, were not reported. Conclusion: Detection of pertinent reportable cardiac findings on routine chest CT examinations without ECG gating is possible. The high volume of chest CT examinations without ECG gating represents an opportunity for radiologists to comment on the presence or absence of cardiac disease which may influence future clinical decisions.
AB - Background: Pertinent reportable cardiac findings on non- electrocardiography (ECG)-gated chest CT examinations have become easier to detect given recent advancements in multidetector CT technology. However, those findings are easily overlooked on routine chest CT without ECG gating given residual inherent cardiac motion artifact and non-cardiac indications. Purpose: To describe and quantify the types of pertinent reportable cardiac findings that can be detected on chest CT examinations without ECG gating and evaluate how often they were reported. Material and Methods: Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed (blinded to the original interpretation) 268 consecutive routine adult chest CT examinations without ECG gating for the presence of pertinent reportable cardiac findings. Retrospective interpretations were then compared with the original radiological reports. Results: One hundred and sixty-three patients (61%) had pertinent reportable cardiac findings. The findings encountered included: coronary artery disease (n = 131; 80.0%), coronary artery bypass grafts (n = 10; 6.1%), left ventricular aneurysm (n = 1; 0.6%), valve calcification (n = 131; 80.0%), valve repair/replacement (n = 5; 3.1%), pericardial effusion (n = 33; 20.2%), left atrial appendage thrombus (n = 1; 0.6%), cardiac mass (n = 1; 0.6%), and cardiac chamber enlargement (n = 29; 17.8%). On the original radiological reports 22.3% of the pertinent reportable cardiac findings, detected by the two radiologists retrospectively, were not reported. Conclusion: Detection of pertinent reportable cardiac findings on routine chest CT examinations without ECG gating is possible. The high volume of chest CT examinations without ECG gating represents an opportunity for radiologists to comment on the presence or absence of cardiac disease which may influence future clinical decisions.
KW - Chest CT without ECG gating
KW - Computed tomography
KW - Coronary artery disease
KW - Incidental cardiac findings
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U2 - 10.1177/0284185113475918
DO - 10.1177/0284185113475918
M3 - Article
C2 - 23436832
AN - SCOPUS:84880693229
SN - 0284-1851
VL - 54
SP - 396
EP - 400
JO - Acta Radiologica
JF - Acta Radiologica
IS - 4
ER -