Abstract
Objective: To assess the effect of reader experience on variability, evaluation time and accuracy in the detection of coronary artery plaques with computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA). Methods: Three independent, blinded readers with three different experience levels twice labelled 50 retrospectively electrocardiography (ECG)- gated contrast-enhanced dual-source CTCA data sets (15 female, age 67.3±10.4 years, range 46-86 years) indicating the presence or absence of coronary plaques. The evaluation times for the readings were recorded. Intra- and interobserver variability expressed as ? statistics and sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values were calculated for plaque detection, with a consensus reading of the three readers taken as the standard of reference. A bootstrap method was applied in the statistical analysis to account for clustering. Results: Significant correlations were found between reader experience and, respectively, evaluation times (r=-0.59, p<0.05) and intraobserver variability (r=0.73, p<0.05). The evaluation time significantly differed among the readers (p<0.05). The observer variability for plaque detection, compared with the consensus, varied between κ=0.582 and κ=0.802. Variability of plaque detection was significantly smaller (p<0.05) and more accurate (p<0.05) for the most experienced reader. Conclusion: Reader experience significantly correlated with observer variability, evaluation time and accuracy of coronary plaque detection at CTCA.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1599-1606 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | European Radiology |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Computed tomography coronary angiography
- Coronary plaque
- Evaluation time
- Observer variability
- Reader experience