Incidental imaging finding

As with other types of incidental medical findings, they may represent a diagnostic, ethical, and philosophical dilemma because their significance is unclear.

Hormonal evaluation includes:[6] On CT scan, benign adenomas typically are of low radiodensity (due to fat content).

[11] Incidental thyroid masses may be found in 9% of patients undergoing bilateral carotid duplex ultrasonography.

[12] Some experts[13] recommend that nodules > 1 cm (unless the TSH is suppressed) or those with ultrasonographic features of malignancy should be biopsied by fine needle aspiration.

[14] Ultrasonographic markers of malignancy are:[15] Incidental parathyroid masses may be found in 0.1% of patients undergoing bilateral carotid duplex ultrasonography.

[17] Clinical practice guidelines by the American College of Chest Physicians advise on the evaluation of the solitary pulmonary nodule.

In renal cell carcinomas, Doppler US often shows vessels with high velocities caused by neovascularization and arteriovenous shunting.

The most common include:[22] Sometimes normally asymptomatic findings can present with symptoms and these cases when identified cannot then be considered as incidentalomas.

[citation needed] The concept of the "incidentaloma" has been criticized, as such lesions do not have much in common other than the history of an incidental identification and the assumption that they are clinically inert.