Incidental findings and recommendations are common on ED CT angiography to evaluate for aortic dissection

The American Journal of Emergency Medicine
Anand M PrabhakarAli S Raja

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the outcomes, incidental findings, recommendations, and adherence to recommendations on computed tomography angiography (CTA) studies obtained in the emergency department (ED) to evaluate for aortic dissection. The institutional database of ED patients was retrospectively reviewed to identify CTA examinations for dissection during 2014. The radiology report and electronic medical records were reviewed to assess outcomes, radiology report incidental findings, and recommendations, as well as adherence to these recommendations. There were 370 dissection CTAs performed during the 12-month study period. The average age of the patients was 63 years (range, 15-97 years). Eighty-seven patients (23.5%) had clinically significant aortic pathology including 46 patients (12.4%) with dissection and 19 (5.1%) which were new. Three hundred twenty-nine (88.9%) of patients had at least 1 incidental finding. One hundred six (28.6%) of patients had recommendations on the radiology report, and 44.3% of these were for pulmonary nodules. Thirty recommendations (28.3%) were acted upon, most commonly related to pulmonary nodule. Computed tomography angiography is useful in detecting aortic pathology. However, emerge...Continue Reading

References

Mar 14, 2007·The American Journal of Cardiology·Mark S HansenStuart J Hutchison
Apr 7, 2007·Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR·Peter L Choyke, UNKNOWN ACR Committee on Appropriateness Criteria
Nov 3, 2011·Emergency Medicine International·Ryan J ThompsonPaul Y Ko
Jun 20, 2012·Current Cardiology Reviews·Reuben J StrayerLuke K Hermann

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Citations

May 11, 2016·Academic Emergency Medicine : Official Journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine·Ali S RajaRobert M Rodriguez
Feb 23, 2019·Journal of Nuclear Cardiology : Official Publication of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology·Lauren H GoldmanJeffrey M Levsky
Feb 2, 2019·World Journal of Radiology·Romman NourzaieAthanasios Diamantopoulos

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