Incidental Extraspinal Findings in the Thoracic Spine during Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Intervertebral Discs

Mogahid M A Zidan; Ikhlas A Hassan; Abdelrahaman M Elnour; Mustafa Z Mahmoud; Mohammed A Alghamdi; Mohammed Salih; Mona Elhaj; Wadah M Ali

doi:10.25259/JCIS_50_2019

Incidental Extraspinal Findings in the Thoracic Spine during Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Intervertebral Discs

J Clin Imaging Sci. 2019 Jul 12:9:37. doi: 10.25259/JCIS_50_2019. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Mogahid M A Zidan¹, Ikhlas A Hassan², Abdelrahaman M Elnour¹, Mustafa Z Mahmoud³, Mohammed A Alghamdi³, Mohammed Salih⁴, Mona Elhaj⁵, Wadah M Ali⁶

Affiliations

¹ Diagnostic Radiology Department, Faculty of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Sciences, The National Ribat University, Sudan.
² Diagnostic Radiologic Technology Department, College of Medical Radiological Sciences, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan.
³ Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj.
⁴ Medical Imaging Technology Department, Al-Ghad International College for Applied Medical Sciences, Abha.
⁵ Medical Imaging Technology Department, Al-Ghad International College for Applied Medical Sciences, Al-Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Medical Imaging Department, College of Health Science, Gulf Medical University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this research was to determine the frequency of incidental extraspinal findings in the thoracic spine on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Materials and methods: A total of 120 thoracic spine MRI patients were prospectively examined in the period extending from August 2018 to April 2019. Both 1.5 and 0.35 Tesla MRI systems (Toshiba and Siemens Medical system) were applied to investigate patients with suspected intervertebral disc abnormalities at three MRI diagnostic centers in Khartoum, Sudan.

Results: Out of the 120 patients, incidental extraspinal findings were found in 16 patients (13.3%). Various incidental findings (IFs) were seen, including renal cysts, liver mass, thyroid goiter, and pleural effusion. Out of these IFs, 37.5% were considered clinically significant.

Conclusions: Various IFs were identified during a routine thoracic spine MRI, and approximately one-third of them were clinically significant. Therefore, it is essential for the reporting radiologists to pay attention to extraspinal findings while reporting thoracic spine MRI to avoid missing clinically significant findings.

Keywords: Incidental extraspinal findings; Magnetic resonance imaging; Pleural effusion; Thoracic spine; Thyroid goiter.