Wednesday, December 02, 2009

More on pulmonary incidentalomas

This time relating to CT in search of pulmonary embolism:

Conclusions The CTAs that are ordered in the emergency department are more than twice as likely to find an incidental pulmonary nodule or adenopathy than a PE. Systematic approaches should be developed to help primary care physicians contend with a growing number of clinically relevant incidental radiologic findings.

1 comment:

Michael Kirsch, M.D. said...

This inititates a destructive vicious cycle, a cascade of chaos. It wastes money and generates unneeded medical risks and anxiety for patients and families. I don't think that the public 'get this', and we physicians fuel the cycle for many reasons. A CAT scan seems to be part of routine ER orders. At www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com, under Radiology Quality, I also offer some views on this issue.