COMMON CHEST PATHOLOGIES FROM COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) FINDINGS IN ADULT PATIENTS IN BENIN CITY.

While chest diseases are a leading cause of global mortality, their specific local presentation in many regions remains uncharted. This study aims to address this critical knowledge gap of common chest pathologies in adult patients who did chest CT in Benin city, Nigeria. A retrospective, cross-sectional review was performed on 350 adult chest CT results from University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Raytouch. Patient data was analysed for pathology prevalence, while Chi-square tests explored associations with gender and age. The findings reveal a significant dual burden of disease. Non-communicable diseases were led by lung cancer, the single most common finding (18.29%). This was immediately followed by major infectious diseases: pulmonary tuberculosis (13.43%) and pneumonia (11.43%). Gender-based differences were confirmed (p=0.008), with males exhibiting a higher prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchiectasis. Notably, 9.43% of all scans contained incidental findings, and 1.71% revealed unexpected tumors or masses. The study’s descriptive findings show that certain conditions like lung cancer, followed age trends. The descriptive data did highlight age related patterns for specific illnesses, such as lung cancer but did not find any statistically significant relationship looking at the entire range of pathologies across adult age groups (p=0.530). This study is the first to provide a CT-scan based reference for thoracic disease in Benin City. By precisely measuring the challenging overlap of highly prevalent cancers and infectious diseases, this research offers localised, essential evidence that can directly inform regional public health strategies and improve clinical diagnostic procedures.