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OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review on the prevalence of incidental findings in computed tomographic (CT) screening studies of the chest. METHODS: We selected CT screening studies of the chest (screening for coronary artery disease CAD coronary calcium and CT coronary angiography and lung cancer screening). Screening protocols, descriptions of baseline characteristics, range of incidental findings, and recommendations for follow-up were abstracted. RESULTS: Eleven chest CT screening studies were identified. The proportion of people with at least 1 imaging abnormality requiring follow-up varied widely between studies (3%-41.5%). This was largely due to considerable variation in follow-up recommendations for incidental findings across studies. Analyzed by subgroup, 7.7% (confidence interval, 7.0%-8.3%) of 6421 participants in CAD screening had further investigations compared with 14.2% (confidence interval, 13.2%-15.2%) of 4531 participants in lung cancer screening. CONCLUSIONS: In this review, 7.7% and 14.2% of patients undergoing either CAD or lung cancer screening with CT were found to have clinically significant incidental findings requiring additional investigations.
Jacobs et al. (Sat,) studied this question.