Preparing for the Unexpected: A Review of Incidental Extraspinal Findings on Computed Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Spine.

Potentially clinically important incidental/unexpected extraspinal findings occur with sufficient frequency in cross-sectional imaging of the spine to warrant the radiologist's careful consideration, regardless of whether the interpreter is a neuroradiologist, a musculoskeletal radiologist, an emergency radiologist, or a generalist. Awareness of the commonly encountered incidentalomas and the anatomy contained within the field of view of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine cross-sectional imaging examinations, respectively, assists radiologists in their efficient and accurate analysis. This article familiarizes radiologists with some of the potential relevant extraspinal findings that may be encountered, and recommends an extraspinal search pattern for each spinal segment.