Thyroid cancers incidentally detected at imaging in a 10-year period: how many cancers would be missed with use of the recommendations from the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound?

PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of incidental thyroid cancer (ITC) among patients undergoing thyroid surgery and to apply the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound (SRU) guidelines to ITC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This HIPAA-compliant study was approved by the institutional review board, with waiver of the need to obtain informed consent. A retrospective review of data in patients who underwent thyroid surgery between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2012, was performed. Imaging studies and reports were reviewed for ITCs that were first detected at either ultrasonography (US) or a different imaging modality and that included US as part of the work-up. ITCs were categorized by using the SRU guidelines to determine the characteristics of SRU criteria-positive and SRU criteria-negative malignancies. Patient demographic data, tumor histologic findings, tumor size, and tumor stage were compared for the SRU criteria-positive and SRU criteria-negative cancers by using the unpaired t test and the χ(2) test. RESULTS: Among 2090 patients who underwent thyroid surgery, 680 had thyroid cancer; of these patients, 101 (15%) had imaging-detected ITC. The SRU recommendations were applied to the findings in 90 of the 101 patients who had undergone US with images or had reports available for review. Sixteen (18%) of the 90 patients had SRU criteria-negative tumors, which represented 2% (16 of 680) of all thyroid cancers. SRU criteria-negative tumors were smaller than SRU criteria-positive tumors (mean, 1.1 cm [range, 0.9-1.4 cm] vs mean, 2.5 cm [range, 1.0-7.6 cm]; P < .001) and were more likely to be stage I (15 [94%] of 16 vs 47 [64%] of 74; P = .02). CONCLUSION: Imaging-detected ITCs are uncommon. Two percent (16 of 680) of malignancies would not undergo fine-needle aspiration biopsy or surgery if the SRU guidelines were used for work-up of incidental thyroid nodules. SRU criteria-negative tumors are lower in stage than SRU criteria-positive tumors.

Journal Club: incidental thyroid nodules detected at imaging: can diagnostic workup be reduced by use of the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound recommendations and the three-tiered system?

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the number of thyroid nodule workups that could be eliminated and the number of malignant tumors that would be missed if the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound (SRU) recommendations and the three-tiered system were applied to incidental thyroid nodules (ITN) detected at imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included ITN in 390 consecutively registered patients who underwent ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of one or more thyroid nodules from July 2010 to June 2011. Images were reviewed, and nodules were categorized according to two workup criteria: ITN seen on ultrasound images were categorized according to SRU recommendations, and those seen on CT, MR, or PET/CT images were classified according to the three-tiered risk-categorization system. RESULTS: In this study 114 of 390 (29%) patients had nodules first detected incidentally during imaging studies, and 107 patients met the inclusion criteria. These patients had 47 ITN seen at ultrasound and 60 ITN seen at either CT, MRI, or PET/CT. If the SRU recommendations had been applied, 14 of 47 (30%) patients with ITN on ultrasound images would not have received fine-needle aspiration and one of four cases of cancer would have been missed. The missed malignant tumor was a 14-mm localized papillary carcinoma. If the three-tiered system had been applied, 21 of 60 (35%) patients with ITN on CT, MR, or PET/CT images would not have received fine-needle aspiration, but none of the three malignancies would have been missed. Overall, 35 of 107 (33%) of patients with ITN did not meet the SRU recommendations or the three-tiered criteria. CONCLUSION: Use of the SRU recommendations and three-tiered system can reduce the workup of ITN by one third compared with current practice without specific guidelines. One case of localized papillary carcinoma was missed when the SRU recommendations were used.

Bronchopleural fistula development in the setting of novel therapies for acute respiratory distress syndrome in SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.

COVID-19 pneumonia has demonstrated a wide spectrum of clinical presentations that has yet to be completely uncovered. We discuss the case of a 49-year-old male who presented to the emergency department with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Initial chest X-ray suggested viral pneumonia that was confirmed to be due to COVID-19. He was treated with empiric antibiotics, antiviral therapy, high-dose glucocorticoids, and interleukin antagonists. Two weeks into the patient's hospital course, he rapidly decompensated with subsequent chest X-ray and CT chest confirming tension pneumothorax with bronchopleural fistula. Intraoperative samples of the necrotic empyema identified mucormycosis invading the lung parenchyma with follow-up microbiology results confirming Rhizopus species. In this case report, we explore the possibility that the patient's immunocompromised state may have contributed to the patient's development of mucormycosis and subsequent development of bronchopleural fistula.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine: determining clinical impact and potential harm from overuse.

BACKGROUND: Lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging is frequently said to be "overused" in the evaluation of low back pain, yet data concerning the extent of overuse and the potential harmful effects are lacking. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of examinations with a detectable impact on patient care (actionable outcomes). STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study. PATIENT SAMPLE: A total of 5,365 outpatient lumbar spine magnetic resonance (MR) examinations were conducted. OUTCOME MEASURES: Actionable outcomes included (1) findings leading to an intervention making use of anatomical information such as surgery; (2) new diagnoses of cancer, infection, or fracture; or (3) following known lumbar spine pathology. Potential harm was assessed by identifying examinations where suspicion of cancer or infection was raised but no positive diagnosis made. METHODS: A medical record aggregation/search system was used to identify lumbar spine MR examinations with positive outcome measures. Patient notes were examined to verify outcomes. A random sample was manually inspected to identify missed positive outcomes. RESULTS: The proportion of actionable lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging was 13%, although 93% were appropriate according to the American College of Radiology guidelines. Of 36 suspected cases of cancer or infection, 81% were false positives. Further investigations were ordered on 59% of suspicious examinations, 86% of which were false positives. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of lumbar spine MR examinations that inform management is small. The false-positive rate and the proportion of false positives involving further investigation are high. Further study to improve the efficiency of imaging is warranted.