Incidental Diagnosis of Urinary System Diseases on Lumbar Spine MRI Performed for Lower Back Pain

Abstract

Objective: purpose of this study was to calculate the frequencies of pathological findings that incidentally detected in urinary system during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of lumbar spine scans. Materials and Methods: A total of 379 lumbar spine MRI patients were prospectively examined in the period extending from August 2018 to April 2019. Both 1.5 and 0.35 Tesla MRI systems (Toshiba and Siemens Medical system) were applied to investigate patients with suspected intervertebral disc abnormalities at three MRI diagnostic centers in Khartoum, Sudan. Results: Out of the 379 patients, urinary system incidental findings were found in 56 patients (14.7%). Various incidental findings (IFs) were seen, including renal cysts, hydronephrosis, atrophic kidney, ectopic kidney, bladder wall thickening and ADPKD. Conclusions: Various urinary system incidental findings were identified during a routine lumbar spine MRI and approximately the majority of them were not significant clinically. Therefore, it is essential for the reporting radiologists to pay attention to urinary system abnormalities and other abnormalities while reporting lumbar spine MRI to avoid missing clinically significant findings.