Conebeam Computed Tomography- Report on incidental findings

Aim:

Retrospective reviews of 170 Cone beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) images and report incidental findings.

Material and Methods:

We reviewed 170 CBCT scans obtained from the Dept of Oral and Maxillofacial radiology, NYU–CD. All the scans were chosen randomly in a sequential manner as it was stored in the hard drive of the computer. Scans that comprised of any kind of artifacts that would potentially interfere with the diagnostic quality were eliminated from being reviewed. All scans with any obvious pathology were also eliminated. All the scans were reviewed by two oral and maxillofacial radiologists independently. Any conflict in decision making was resolved by consensus of the above panel. When it was not resolved the case was eliminated from the review.

Results:

Our descriptive statistics showed 75 incidental findings from the 170 scans reviewed. This amounts to 44% of the total scans. The list of incidental findings were carotid artheromas(9%), degenerative changes in spine(8%), severe mucoperiosteal thickening(27%), septations in maxillary sinus(4%), calcifications of lingual tonsils(30%), osteophyte(s)in relation to spine(12%), sialoliths(3%), calcification of the thyroid cartilage(7%).

Conclusion:

Our study indicated that over 44% of the scans have incidental findings. These varied from those that needed immediate medical attention such as carotid artheromas(9%) to others that were indicative of underlying medical conditions as in degenerative changes in spine including osteophytes(20%) or ones that may have no bearing to the treatment planned by the dentists(30%). Our list above brings attention to the very common incidental findings found in CBCT scans.