Abstract
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Metastatic epidural masses are an important radiological finding. The purpose of this study is to determine factors associated with non-reporting of thoracolumbar epidural metastases on body CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a study population of 166 patients from a single institution over a 12-year period, 293 body CT examinations were identified which were performed within 30 days before or after a spine MRI diagnosis of epidural metastasis. Associations were sought between patient diagnosis, CT examination characteristics, reporting radiologist (n = 17), and lesion characteristics with respect to whether an epidural metastasis was reported on CT. RESULTS: In retrospective consensus review comprised of 3 radiologists, epidural metastases reported on spine MRI were clearly visible in 80.5% (236/293) of body CT examinations, however 65.3% (154/236) of the body CT reports omitted reporting their presence, even in cases where there was a preceding MRI diagnosis within 30 days (65.4%, 74/113). The identity of the reporting radiologist was statistically significantly associated with the accurate diagnostic reporting of epidural metastasis on body CT (p = 0.04). The only lesion features which were statistically significantly associated with CT reporting were lesion volume (p = 0.03) on noncontrast CT, and lesion volume (p = 0.006) and percentage of spinal canal stenosis (p = 0.001) on intravenous contrast-enhanced CT. The presence or absence of intravenous contrast was not significantly associated with CT reporting (p = 1.0). CONCLUSION: Using spine MRI as the reference standard for the presence of epidural tumor, the majority of body CT reports omit describing thoracolumbar epidural metastases which are clearly visible in retrospect.