TY - JOUR
T1 - Incidence and evaluation of incidental abnormal bone marrow signal on magnetic resonance imaging
AU - Shah, Gunjan L.
AU - Rosenberg, Aaron
AU - Jarboe, Jamie
AU - Klein, Andreas
AU - Cossor, Furha
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - Purpose. The increased use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has resulted in reports of incidental abnormal bone marrow (BM) signal. Our goal was to determine the evaluation of an incidental abnormal BM signal on MRI and the prevalence of a subsequent oncologic diagnosis. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients over age 18 undergoing MRI between May 2005 and October 2010 at Tufts Medical Center (TMC) with follow-up through November 2013. The electronic medical record was queried to determine imaging site, reason for scan, evaluation following radiology report, and final diagnosis. Results. 49,678 MRIs were done with 110 patients meeting inclusion criteria. Twenty two percent underwent some evaluation, most commonly a complete blood count, serum protein electrophoresis, or bone scan. With median follow-up of 41 months, 6% of patients were diagnosed with malignancies including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, and metastatic adenocarcinoma. One patient who had not undergone evaluation developed breast cancer 24 months after the MRI. Conclusions. Incidentally noted abnormal or heterogeneous bone marrow signal on MRI was not inconsequential and should prompt further evaluation.
AB - Purpose. The increased use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has resulted in reports of incidental abnormal bone marrow (BM) signal. Our goal was to determine the evaluation of an incidental abnormal BM signal on MRI and the prevalence of a subsequent oncologic diagnosis. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients over age 18 undergoing MRI between May 2005 and October 2010 at Tufts Medical Center (TMC) with follow-up through November 2013. The electronic medical record was queried to determine imaging site, reason for scan, evaluation following radiology report, and final diagnosis. Results. 49,678 MRIs were done with 110 patients meeting inclusion criteria. Twenty two percent underwent some evaluation, most commonly a complete blood count, serum protein electrophoresis, or bone scan. With median follow-up of 41 months, 6% of patients were diagnosed with malignancies including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, and metastatic adenocarcinoma. One patient who had not undergone evaluation developed breast cancer 24 months after the MRI. Conclusions. Incidentally noted abnormal or heterogeneous bone marrow signal on MRI was not inconsequential and should prompt further evaluation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908313850&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84908313850&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1155/2014/380814
DO - 10.1155/2014/380814
M3 - Article
C2 - 25374938
AN - SCOPUS:84908313850
VL - 2014
JO - The Scientific World Journal
JF - The Scientific World Journal
SN - 2356-6140
M1 - 380814
ER -