Aim: To determine the prevalence of unsuspected thyroid nodules on contrast enhanced 16- and 64-modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) of the chest, in a population of adult outpatients imaged for indications other than thyroid disease.
Methods: This retrospective study involved review of intravascular contrast-enhanced MDCT scans of the chest from 3077 consecutive adult outpatients, to identify unsuspected thyroid nodules. Exclusion criteria included history of thyroid cancer, known thyroid nodules or thyroid disease and risk factors for thyroid cancer, as evidenced by their medical records.