Erkan BILGIN, Elif AKTAS
Anatolian Current Medical Journal - 2026;8(2):174-178
Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of incidental findings to the diagnosis in patients who underwent computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) with a preliminary diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). Methods: In this retrospective study, 266 patients who underwent CT imaging with the diagnosis of PE between 01.01.2025 and 08.08.2025 were evaluated. After evaluating the presence of PE, the CTA images were evaluated for incidental findings. Incidental findings were reported in three categories (Type 1: Life-threatening or requiring rapid treatment, Type 2: Findings with potential for morbidity requiring specific action on follow-up, Type 3: Benign processes of limited clinical significance). Results: In this study, the number of patients diagnosed with PE was 27 (10.2%), while the number of patients diagnosed with bilateral PE was 7 (2.6%). Only 18 (6.8%) patients had no incidental findings. No significant difference is found in the ratio of incidental findings regarding gender (p=0.227). When we divided the incidental findings into groups, there were 90 (33.8%) patients in type 1, 124 (46.6%) patients in type 2, and 215 (80.8%) patients in type 3. The most common incidental findings were pneumonia in type 1, enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes in type 2, and fibroatelectatic changes in type 3. Particularly, the number of patients in type 1 (life-threatening or requiring rapid treatment) reveals the importance of incidental findings in patients examined with a preliminary diagnosis of PE. Conclusion: In patients with suspected PE, CTPA may indicate an important alternative diagnosis other than PE.
