ELASTOFIBROMA DORSI - PREVALENCE IN AN ELDERLY PATIENT POPULATION AS REVEALED BY CT

OBJECTIVE. We wanted to determine the prevalence and appearance of ela stofibroma dorsi in an elderly patient population (n = 258) who underw ent CT of the chest for reasons other than to evaluate posterolateral chest wall pain, stiffness, or a mass. CONCLUSION. Five elastofibromas were detected in four patients; none of these elastofibromas were not ed at initial examination. Our study suggests that the prevalence of e lastofibroma dorsi revealed by CT is 2%, which is lower than the 11-24 % found in autopsy series but higher than expected for such a rare tum or. Elastofibroma dorsi typically has a layered appearance on CT; howe ver, in our study, homogeneous soft-tissue attenuation was noted. The diagnosis is often missed prospectively. Familiarity with the location and imaging appearance of elastofibroma dorsi may enhance detection a nd characterization of posterolateral chest wall masses in elderly pat ients.