Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Case Reports in Medicine
Volume 2013, Article ID 760543, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/760543
Case Report
Missed Lung Cancers on the Scout View:
Do We Look Every Time?
Sarfraz Ahmed Nazir,
1
Rachel Benamore,
2
and Fergus Gleeson
2
1
Department of Radiology, Horton Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford OX16 9AL, UK
2
Department of Radiology, Churchill Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford OX3 7LE, UK
Correspondence should be addressed to Sarfraz Ahmed Nazir; sarfraznazir@doctors.org.uk
Received 8 September 2013; Accepted 10 December 2013
Academic Editor: Martin G. Mack
Copyright © 2013 Sarfraz Ahmed Nazir et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
Scout views are digital radiographs obtained to aid planning of the subsequent computed tomography (CT) examination. Review of
these scout views may provide additional information not demonstrated on the axial images, but such reviews may not necessarily
be performed routinely, especially in the context of abdominopelvic CT studies. We illustrate the value of the scout images
by presenting a series of representative cases of missed pulmonary neoplasms in fve patients who originally underwent such
examinations.
1. Introduction
Te “scout” view is an obligatory part of performing com-
puted tomography (CT). It is synonymously known as a
scanogram, topogram, localiser, scan projection radiograph,
surview, or pilot scan. Tese images are usually obtained with
the patient in the supine position but can also be generated
in the prone, oblique, or decubitus orientation. Tey are
projectional overviews generally used as reference images for
acquiring an axial CT series. Abdominopelvic CT examina-
tions frequently include the lower chest on the “scout” view,
but the most cranial axial CT sections usually start lower than
the most cranial portion of the “scout,” potentially leaving
lesions if present on the uppermost part of the “scout” not
included on the axial sections. As the “scout” views are not
of primary interest to the reporting radiologist, they may
not be reviewed during reporting on picture archiving and
communications systems (PACS) workstations, potentially
resulting in a failure to detect abnormalities not included on
the axial sections. We present a series of 5 cases that we have
encountered in our practice illustrating the absolute necessity
to review the scout images when reporting abdominopelvic
CT, as summarised in Table 1.
2. Case 1
An 88-year-old patient with a prior history of caecal car-
cinoma which was resected 2 years earlier presented to his
family doctor with persistent macroscopic haematuria. A
CT urogram (CTU) reported only marked benign prostatic
hypertrophy. A plain chest radiograph performed 7 months
later for a persistent cough identifed a large right lower lobe
mass, measuring 10 cm in size. Review of the CTU identifed
a 7 cm mass in the right lower lobe on the scout image
(Figure 1), but the axial sections had started below the mass.
Biopsy confrmed metastatic adenocarcinoma of the caecum.
3. Case 2
A 75-year-old gentleman with prior history of rectal can-
cer in the setting of ulcerative colitis treated 3 years ear-
lier with a panproctocolectomy underwent a surveillance
abdominopelvic CT scan. Axial CT images of the abdomen
and pelvis demonstrated no abnormality. A chest radiograph
performed 7 months later for chest symptoms revealed a
2 cm lef midzone opacity. Review of the prior CT scout
confrmed it to be visible. Subsequent CT of the chest and