Incidental Findings on Brain Imaging in the General Pediatric Population

Abstract

Incidentally discovered findings on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in healthy persons pose medical and ethical considerations regarding management.¹ The prevalence of incidental findings on brain MRI has been described in adult populations,² but less is known about incidental findings in children. We report the prevalence of incidental findings on brain MRI in a large, single-center neuroimaging study involving a general pediatric population. From April 2013 through November 2015, a total of 3966 children (mean age, 10.1 years; range, 8.6 to 11.9) in the population-based Generation R Study³ — designed to prospectively identify early environmental and genetic influences on normal and abnormal growth, development, and health during fetal life, childhood, and young adulthood — underwent MRI scanning of the brain on a single 3-Tesla scanner. Scans were systematically reviewed by trained researchers and neuroradiologists for the presence of incidental findings ( Table 1 ).