TY - JOUR T1 - Evaluation of incidental findings other than PE on CT pulmonary angiogram JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 40 IS - Suppl 56 SP - P648 AU - Urvi Shah AU - Freya Shah AU - Kabali Nandakumar Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P648.abstract N2 - BACKGROUNDPE is a common cause of admission to hospital, with CTPA increasingly being used to make this diagnosis. However, incidental findings other than PE are frequently noted. Our objective was to investigate the incidence of these, and the implications in patient management.METHODThis is a retrospective study which involved all inpatients who had undergone CTPA from June until November 2009. Data was obtained from PACS and electronic records. Abnormalities other than PE was identified and new lesions were differentiated from old.RESULTSA total of 112 patients were identified with the majority being male 67 (60%). The mean age was 61 years (range 23 to 97). SOB was the most prevalent presenting symptom in 62 (55.3%) followed by chest pain 37(33%). Chest radiographs were performed in 110 (98.2%) patients, of 52.7% were normal.PE was found in 28 (25%) patients. Incidental findings were seen in 56 (50%) patients, 40(71.4%) of these were new of which 28(70%) of them needed further interventions. The most prevalent findings were pneumonia 22 (39%) followed by fibrosis7 (12.5%), effusions 5(8.9%) and lung masses 4(7%). 10 patients had both PE and incidental findings.The average length of stay was 7.3 days. Patients with additional pathology stayed a day longer (7.8 days) than those without (6.8days).ConclusionIn patients with suspected PE, CTPA has become a routine investigation with a yield of 25% in our study. Incidental pathology was evident in 50% of scans, which is in keeping with other studies. The addition of these findings on CTPA impacts on the length of stay of patients in hospital by one day, and has important implications for the acute clinical management of these patients. ER -