Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Incidental Extracardiac Findings on Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Aim: The purpose of this study is to discuss the prevalence and potential outcomes of incidental extracardiac findings (IEF) identified on cardiac MRI and also explore the age implications of these findings. Materials and Methods: 812 MRIs cardiac MRI were evaluated retrospectively by two radiologists. IEFs were examined in three groups as mild or no clinical significance (group 1), probable clinical significance (group 2) and clinically significant (group 3). In addition, the patient group was divided into 2 groups as over and under 65 years of age and the prevalence of extracardiac involvement was evaluated. Result: Our study consisted of 812 individuals (432 males (52.96%), median age 54 years, range 19-76 years), we identified a total of 187 IEFs in 176 patients. Of these IEFs; 74 (9.1%) belonged to group 1 were of mild or no clinical significance, 70 (8.6%) belonged to group 2 were of probable clinical significance, and 32 (3.9%) belonged to group 3 were clinically significant. 507 (62.4%) were ≤65 years old and 305 (37.6%) were over 65 years old. IEFs were seen significantly more frequently in patients over 65 years of age (n=100, 56.8% p