The prevalence and significance of thoracic findings in patients undergoing extended coverage computed tomography for assessment of abdominal aortic aneurysms

OBJECTIVE: Many major vascular centres, including ours, incorporate coverage of the thoracic aorta in CT scans evaluating abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) (extended coverage contrast-enhanced CT (EC-CECT) scan]. We sought to determine the prevalence of thoracic pathology in a large consecutive series of patients with AAA undergoing EC-CECT. METHODS: All patients who underwent EC-CECT for AAA between April 2013 and 2014 were identified from our radiology information system. Reports were retrospectively reviewed and for each study, sex, age and reported thoracic aortic and other non-vascular findings were extracted. Findings were initially categorized into "major" or "minor" depending on if they were mentioned in the report impression/conclusion. Any major thoracic pathology was termed "significant" if there was a new diagnosis/patient intervention/investigation and a change in patient management. RESULTS: Of the 150 scans included in the study, 97 (65%) had at least one thoracic finding. These findings included 24 scans (16%) with major findings and 73 scans (48%) with minor findings. In 13 scans (9%), the findings were significant and resulted in a delay (n = 11) or cancellation (n = 2) of AAA repair. CONCLUSION: Pre-procedural EC-CECT helps to identify significant intrathoracic findings in patients with AAA, which can have a major impact on AAA repair. This study supports the routine use of pre-procedural EC-CECT in planning AAA repair. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: This study describes the prevalence of significant thoracic pathology, which can impact on AAA repair. This information could potentially change the pre-procedure imaging protocol for patients with AAA.