Evaluation of Incidental Findings on Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of incidental findings in relation to the side of a patient's face, location, and age group on cone beam computed tomography. Material and Methods: 175 CBCT examinations were performed on patients aged between 12 and 77 years, consisting of recordings of the anatomical location and findings following each examination. For standardization of tomographic evaluations, acquired images were analyzed by two previously trained expert radiologists. After positional adjustment of the multi-dimensional images on the monitor screen, examination of each scan was conducted simultaneously on the coronal, axial, and sagittal planes. Fisher's exact tests and Chi-square tests were used to compare the frequencies of incidental findings using a significance level of 0.05. Results: The most frequent incidental finding was maxillary sinus mucosal thickening, which occurred on the right and left side in 46.3% and 46.9% of the patients, respectively. The second most frequent incidental finding was flattening of the mandibular condyle, occurring on the right and left side in 29.7% and 24% of the patients, respectively. No significant difference was observed among the individual age groups. The number of incidental findings per patient varied from 0 to 5 on the right side and left side and from 0 to 12 in total. The Kendall correlation coefficient for the number of incidental findings between the sides was 0.25 (p<0.0001), indicating a weak but significant and positive association between the sides in relation to the number of incidental findings. The mean total number of incidental findings was 4.07. Conclusion: The prevalence of the individual incidental findings and the total number of findings were not statistically different. However, some alterations were more likely to be observed bilaterally.

Main incidental findings from cone beam computed tomography in the head and neck region and the impact in patients’ lives: an integrative literature review

“…IFs can be due to several factors, such as allergies, anatomical variations, or even the first signs of serious diseases [15,23]. Underdiagnosis can be of concern since not identifying or ignoring an IF can cause harm to the patient.…”

Sinus Radiological Findings in General Asymptomatic Populations: A Systematic Review of Incidental Mucosal Changes

“…Most of the studies included in the meta-analysis were conducted in adults, 6 studies were conducted in pediatric cohorts, 4,10,[17][18][19][20] and 10 studies 8,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] were in a mixed patient cohort. The breakdown of the 33 studies into population groups was as follows: 1 study in group 1 (specific symptom screening with endoscopy), 16 in group 2 (specific symptom screening without endoscopy), and 16 in group 3 (no specific screening).…”

“…Six of the 33 studies 21,23,[31][32][33][34] included in the metaanalyses elsewhere did not state their cutoff for classifying significant mucosal thickening but reported a combined prevalence of 21.3% of some degree of thickening. Nine of the studies excluded from the meta-analysis due to incomplete data found a combined 12.8% prevalence of some degree of maxillary sinus mucosal thickening.…”