What is "incidentaloma"

n. (context medicine English) An incidentally-discovered disease or physical condition.

In medicine, an incidentaloma is a tumor (-oma) found by coincidence (incidentally) without clinical symptoms or suspicion. Like other types of incidental findings, it is found during the course of examination and imaging for other reasons. It is a common occurrence: up to 7% of all patients over 60 may harbor a benign growth, often of the adrenal gland, which is detected when diagnostic imaging is used for the analysis of unrelated symptoms. With the increase of "whole-body CT scanning" as part of health screening programs, the chance of finding incidentalomas is expected to increase. 37% of patients receiving whole-body CT scans have abnormal findings that may need further evaluation. Since many incidentally found lesions may never cause disease, there is a risk of overdiagnosis.

When faced with an unexpected finding on diagnostic imaging, the clinician faces the challenge to prove that the lesion is indeed harmless. Often, some other tests are required to determine the exact nature of an incidentaloma.