{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,21]],"date-time":"2025-10-21T00:45:43Z","timestamp":1761007543727,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":14,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,20]],"date-time":"2025-10-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760918400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence, classification, and clinical relevance of incidental extracardiovascular findings in pre-transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) CT imaging. Methods: We conducted a retrospective single-center study of 225 patients undergoing pre-TAVI contrast-enhanced, ECG-gated CT scans between 2021 and 2023. Extracardiovascular findings were recorded and categorized into three groups based on presumed clinical relevance: Group A (findings with no need for follow-up), Group B (findings requiring follow-up), and Group C (findings requiring immediate intervention or treatment). Statistical analysis included a descriptive assessment of the overall prevalence of incidental findings and evaluation of age- and sex-related trends using chi-square tests with Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons. Results: The study cohort included 225 patients (53.3% male; mean age 79.9 \u00b1 6.2 years, range 58\u201393). Extracardiovascular incidental findings were detected in 205 patients (91.1%). Among all 478 recorded findings, 82.6% were Group A, 14.4% Group B, and 2.9% Group C. On a per-patient level, 87.1% had at least one Group A finding, 24.9% had at least one Group B, and 6.2% had at least one Group C finding. Older age was associated with more incidental findings, with a significant difference observed between the 70\u201379 and 80\u201389 age groups (p = 0.002). No significant sex-related differences were found (p = 0.226). Findings were most frequently located in the abdomen (46.2%) and thorax (37.2%). Among all clinically relevant findings, the thorax was the most commonly affected region: 43.5% of Group B and 78.6% of Group C findings were located in the thorax, followed by the abdomen (33.3% of Group B and 7.1% of Group C findings). Conclusions: Extracardiovascular incidental findings are highly prevalent in pre-TAVI CT imaging and range from benign, age-related changes to potentially serious conditions such as malignancies or infections. Their presence reflects the comorbidity burden of the typical TAVI population and underscores the importance of recognizing non-vascular incidental findings in this clinical setting.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14207394","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,20]],"date-time":"2025-10-20T13:54:41Z","timestamp":1760968481000},"page":"7394","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prevalence and Clinical Impact of Incidental Extracardiovascular Findings in Pre-TAVI CT Imaging"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Matteo","family":"Haupt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, 26192 Oldenburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tim","family":"Bellersen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, 26192 Oldenburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Weiss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, 26192 Oldenburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Arne","family":"Bischoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, 26192 Oldenburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6515-2676","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bastian","family":"Schrader","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University Clinic for Cardiology\u2014Klinikum Oldenburg, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, 26192 Oldenburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7953-2645","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreas","family":"Martens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinic for Cardiac Surgery, University Clinic Oldenburg, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, 26192 Oldenburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Martin H.","family":"Maurer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, 26192 Oldenburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rohit Philip","family":"Thomas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, 26192 Oldenburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20130595","DOI":"10.1259\/bjr.20130595","article-title":"Transcatheter aortic valve insertion (TAVI): A review","volume":"87","author":"Clayton","year":"2014","journal-title":"Br. 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Oncol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"731","DOI":"10.1093\/ehjci\/jev055","article-title":"Two-year survival of patients screened for transcatheter aortic valve replacement with potentially malignant incidental findings in initial body computed tomography","volume":"16","author":"Stachon","year":"2015","journal-title":"Eur. Heart J. Cardiovasc. Imaging"}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/14\/20\/7394\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,20]],"date-time":"2025-10-20T14:17:21Z","timestamp":1760969841000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/14\/20\/7394"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,20]]},"references-count":14,"journal-issue":{"issue":"20","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]}},"alternative-id":["jcm14207394"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcm14207394","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0383"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0383","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,20]]}}}