Diagnostic Yield and False-Referral Rate of Staging Chest CT in Patients with Colon Cancer

Radiology. 2018 Nov;289(2):535-545. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2018180009. Epub 2018 Aug 7.

Abstract

Purpose To measure the diagnostic yield and false-referral rate (FRR) of staging contrast material-enhanced chest CT based on the clinical stage from contrast-enhanced abdominal CT in patients with colon cancer. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 1743 patients (mean age, 63.4 years; range, 18-96 years) with a diagnosis of colon cancer. The primary outcomes were diagnostic yield and FRR of contrast-enhanced chest CT in the detection of thoracic metastasis. The proportions of patients with occult thoracic metastasis and those undergoing pulmonary metastasectomy for true-positive metastases were key secondary outcomes. The outcomes were stratified according to clinical stage at contrast-enhanced abdominal CT. Results The diagnostic yields in clinical stage 0/I, cII, cIII, and cIV were 0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0%, 0.8%), 1.3% (95% CI: 0.4%, 3.3%), 4.4% (95% CI: 3.0%, 6.1%), and 43.3% (95% CI: 36.8%, 49.9%), respectively. The corresponding FRRs were 5.7% (95% CI: 3.8%, 8.2%), 2.9% (95% CI: 1.3%, 5.5%), 6.7% (95% CI: 5.0%, 8.8%), and 6.1% (95% CI: 3.4%, 10.0%), respectively. The proportions of patients with occult metastasis were 0% (95% CI: 0%, 0.8%), 3.3% (95% CI: 1.6%, 5.9%), 1.5% (95% CI: 0.8%, 2.7%), and 6.1% (95% CI: 3.4%, 10.0%), respectively. The proportion of patients who underwent pulmonary metastasectomy was 0% (none of 474; 95% CI: 0%, 0.8%) for clinical stage 0/I tumors. Conclusion In clinical stages 0 and I, the diagnostic yield of staging contrast-enhanced chest CT in detecting thoracic metastasis was zero. For clinical stages II, III, and IV, contrast-enhanced chest CT as a baseline examination was helpful for the detection of thoracic metastasis and allowed for the possibility of a curative metastasectomy. There was no significant association between clinical stage and false-referral rate. © RSNA, 2018 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Publication types

  • Observational Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Colonic Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Contrast Media
  • False Positive Reactions
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lung / diagnostic imaging
  • Lung / pathology
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Radiographic Image Enhancement / methods
  • Referral and Consultation / statistics & numerical data*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Contrast Media