Emergence of Incidentaloma Following COVID-19 chest CT screening : A Single Center Study

<bold>Background:</bold> During the pandamic, Chest CT scan was frequently employed for the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia. The increased utilization of CT scans as a diagnositic tool has facilitated the detection of subtle abnormalities that may not have easily discernible previosuly (1). <bold>Objectives:</bold> The primary objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of the non COVID-19 lung pathologoies in CT chest done for COVID-19 screening study. <bold>Methods:</bold> This retrospective observational study encompasses all adult patients (aged >=16 years) in Alain city, United Arab Emirates between June 2020 to June 2021. Patients who had chest CT during this time, and exhibited lung pathologies beyond the typical changes associated with COVID-19 infection were eligible for inclusion. <bold>Result:</bold> Among a total 3000 Chest CT scan reports,318 individuals fit our inclusion criteria. The mean age was 63 years.19%(n=40) were smokers. The prevalent comorbidities in the study included cardiovascular disease with 30% (n=127),followed by diabetes at 28%(n=121). While chronic lung disease (COPD/Asthma) was observed in 17%(n=71) of the participants. A total of 231 (56%) patients exhibited incidental lung nodules. While 75(23.6%) patients found to have pleural effusion,63(15%) with bronchiectasis, and 19(5%) with emphysema. Furthermore, three patients had cavitary lung lesion, one patient was diagnsoed with tuberculosis. Only one patient was identified with lung mass which attributed to primary lung adenocarcinoma. The remaining 2%(n=8) had ILD(interstitial lung disease). <bold>Conclusion:</bold> A (10.6%) of the participants exhibited lung incidentaloma.