incidentaloma

Often, some other tests are required to determine the exact nature of an incidentaloma.

They are typically discovered on medical imaging incidentally (i.e. an incidentaloma).

In medicine, an incidentaloma is a tumor (-oma) found by coincidence (incidental) without clinical symptoms or suspicion.

"The M.R.I. of the C-spine was normal except for an incidentaloma in the thyroid."

"Better grab some dinner quick - we've got three hits coming up from the E.R." Incidentaloma: an incidental finding noted on a radiograph performed for an unrelated purpose.

An incidentaloma is a tumor found by coincidence which is often benign and does not cause any clinically significant symptoms, however a small yet significant percentage do turn out to be malignant.

Shen WT, Sturgeon C, Duh QY: From incidentaloma to adrenocortical carcinoma: the surgical management of adrenal tumors.

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.

There is a significant risk of detection of what has been recently called an incidentaloma - a benign lesion that may be interpreted as a malignancy and be subjected to potentially dangerous investigations.

An example would be ordering a full body CT scan without a clear reason, finding an incidentaloma, and undergoing a debilitating surgery to remove it, despite the fact that the condition was asymptomatic and possibly benign.

Incidentaloma are common with up to 7% of all patients over 60 may harbor a benign growth, often of the adrenal gland, which is detected when diagnostic imaging is used for the analysis of unrelated symptoms.

They may be discovered on medical imaging incidentally (i.e. an incidentaloma), or may be present in patients as an abdominal mass, hematuria, abdominal pain, or manifest first in a paraneoplastic syndrome that seems unrelated to the kidney.