RT Journal
A1 Finestone AJ
T1 ANother point of view
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 2011
FD April 11
VO 171
IS 7
SP 702
OP 710
DO 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.119
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.119
AB 
Orme and associates,1 in their study titled “Incidental Findings in Imaging Research,” concluded that evaluation of incidental findings in imaging research resulted in medical benefits to a small number of patients. I offer another point of view, namely, no medical benefit but negative consequences.2 In many instances, expensive and occasionally dangerous investigations are pursued. Brain magnetic resonance imaging screening of asymptomatic patients regardless of age, health, or medical history is an example of an ineffective screening program that could produce many inconsequential findings. Valuable screening must either address a highly prevalent disease or are applied to high-risk individuals and must uncover a treatable disease. Chest computed tomographic angiograms ordered in the emergency department are more than twice as likely to find an incidental pulmonary nodule or adenopathy than a pulmonary embolism, suggesting that a systemic approach be developed to help primary care physicians contend with a growing number of new pulmonary nodules. In many instances this creates a Hobson's choice for physicians.