TY - JOUR

T1 - Characterizing incidental mass lesions in abdominal dual-energy CT compared to conventional contrast-enhanced CT

AU - Xu, Jack Junchi

AU - Ulriksen, Peter Sommer

AU - Bjerrum, Camilla Wium

AU - Achiam, Michael Patrick

AU - Resch, Timothy Andrew

AU - Lönn, Lars

AU - Lindskov Hansen, Kristoffer

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Foundation Acta Radiologica 2022.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Background: Incidental findings are common in abdominal computed tomography (CT) and often warrant further investigations with economic implications as well as implications for patients. Purpose: To evaluate the potential of dual-energy CT (DECT) in the identification and/or characterization of abdominal incidental mass lesions compared to conventional contrast-enhanced CT Material and Methods: This retrospective study from a major tertiary hospital included 96 patients, who underwent contrast-enhanced abdominal DECT. Incidental lesions in adrenals, kidneys, liver, and pancreas were evaluated by two board-certified abdominal radiologists. Observer 1 only had access to standard CT reconstructions, while observer 2 had access to standard CT as well as DECT reconstructions. Disagreements were resolved by consensus review and used as a reference for observers using McNemar's test Results: Observers 1 and 2 identified a total of 40 and 34 findings, respectively. Furthermore, observer 1 registered 13 lesions requiring follow-up, of which seven (two renal and five adrenal lesions) were resolved following consensus review using DECT (P = 0.008). The inter-observer agreement was near perfect (κ = 0.82). Conclusion: DECT has the potential to improve the immediate characterization of incidental findings when compared to conventional CT for abdominal imaging.

AB - Background: Incidental findings are common in abdominal computed tomography (CT) and often warrant further investigations with economic implications as well as implications for patients. Purpose: To evaluate the potential of dual-energy CT (DECT) in the identification and/or characterization of abdominal incidental mass lesions compared to conventional contrast-enhanced CT Material and Methods: This retrospective study from a major tertiary hospital included 96 patients, who underwent contrast-enhanced abdominal DECT. Incidental lesions in adrenals, kidneys, liver, and pancreas were evaluated by two board-certified abdominal radiologists. Observer 1 only had access to standard CT reconstructions, while observer 2 had access to standard CT as well as DECT reconstructions. Disagreements were resolved by consensus review and used as a reference for observers using McNemar's test Results: Observers 1 and 2 identified a total of 40 and 34 findings, respectively. Furthermore, observer 1 registered 13 lesions requiring follow-up, of which seven (two renal and five adrenal lesions) were resolved following consensus review using DECT (P = 0.008). The inter-observer agreement was near perfect (κ = 0.82). Conclusion: DECT has the potential to improve the immediate characterization of incidental findings when compared to conventional CT for abdominal imaging.

KW - abdomen/gastrointestinal

KW - computed tomography

KW - Dual-energy computed tomography

U2 - 10.1177/02841851221116306

DO - 10.1177/02841851221116306

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35918808

AN - SCOPUS:85135446420

VL - 64

SP - 945

EP - 950

JO - Acta Radiologica - Series Diagnosis

JF - Acta Radiologica - Series Diagnosis

SN - 0365-5954

IS - 3

ER -