Effect of reader experience on variability, evaluation time and accuracy of coronary plaque detection with computed tomography coronary angiography

Stefan C. Saur, Hatem Alkadhi, Paul Stolzmann, Stephan Baumüller, Sebastian Leschka, Hans Scheffel, Lotus Desbiolles, Thomas J. Fuchs, Gábor Székely, Philippe C. Cattin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1599-1606
Number of pages8
JournalEuropean Radiology
Volume20
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Computed tomography coronary angiography
  • Coronary plaque
  • Evaluation time
  • Observer variability
  • Reader experience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effect of reader experience on variability, evaluation time and accuracy of coronary plaque detection with computed tomography coronary angiography'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this