Introduction: An incidental finding (IF) is a previously unexpected lesion that is unrelated to the reason of the examination but has potential clinical significance. During a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of lumbar spine (LS), various IF can be observed in the spinal column and extraspinal tissues. Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate and analyse the incidence and type of spinal IF in patients referred for LS MRI due to suspected herniated intervertebral disk disease. Our study population included patients from Valdoltra Orthopedic Hospital (OBV) who underwent imaging between 2019 and 2022. Vertebral hemangioma, Tarlov cyst, synovial cist, sacral meningocele, discitis of the lumbar spine and spinal tumours were included. Based on a systematic review of the literature, the main objective was to find out what are the similarities in the results with other studies performed abroad. Methods: As part of a systematic literature review, 14 articles related to IF in LS MRI examinations were analysed. The second part of the study was retrospective, involving 1753 patients from OBV who were referred for LS MRI examination because of clinically suspected herniated intervertebral discs. The number of patients according to age and gender was displayed using contingency tables, while frequencies were used for description. For the analysis of the relationship of IF with patient characteristics was used the chi-square test. Results: Overall, IF were present in 264 patients (15 %). Vertebral hemangiomas were the most common IF (169 patients, 10 %), followed by Tarlov cysts (58 patients, 3 %) and synovial cysts (34 patients, 2 %). One patient was diagnosed with sacral meningocele, 2 patients were diagnosed with spinal tumours. No lumbar spine inflammation was diagnosed incidentally in any of the patients included in the study. The lowest reported incidence of IF in the previous studies was 7,8 %, the highest incidence was 34,2 % 95 % CI: 14,8 % ; 25,8 %. The average of IF in the previous studies was 20,3 %. Discussion and conclusions: IF at LS MRI were common and associated with age and gender (p < 0.05). Most of them were benign findings. IF play a crucial role in improving medical practice and discovering new approaches to treatment.
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