Prevalence of elastofibroma dorsi found incidentally upon chest computed tomography scan: A tertiary care center experience

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and demographic data regarding incidentally encountered elastofibroma dorsi (EFD) in the Saudi population-based on chest CT (computed tomography) scans. METHODS: This retrospective study was carried out on 4,435 chest CT examinations that were collected between January 2014 and December 2016 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. One musculoskeletal radiologist who was unaware of the patients’ clinical presentations or reasons for CT study reviewed the 4,435 chest CTs prospectively, searching for soft tissue tumors in the subscapular region. RESULTS: Elastofibroma dorsi was incidentally confirmed via CT scan in 36 of the 4,435 patients, including 8 males and 28 females, with a mean age of 76.6 years, yielding a prevalence of 0.8%. Elastofibroma dorsi was more common in females, with a 3.3-fold higher prevalence (77.8%) as compared to males (22.2%); however, this difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Twenty-five (69.44%) patients had unilateral EFD and 11 (30.56%) had bilateral EFD. Right-sided EFD was encountered in 60% of females and 50% of males. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant correlation between the size of EFD and the patient’s gender or age (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Elastofibroma dorsi is a rare but uncommon incidental finding on routine chest CT examination encountered in 0.8% of elderly Saudi patients.