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A Multicenter Trial on Interobserver Reproducibility in Reporting on ^99mTc-DMSA Planar Scintigraphy: A Belgian Survey

St. Pierre Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels
Akademisch Ziekenhuis, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Carlos De Sadeleer, MD, Borrekent 51, 9450 Haaltert, Belgium.

ABSTRACT

Conflicting opinions have been expressed regarding reproducibility in ^99mTc-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) planar renal image interpretation. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the level of interobserver variability among a large group of Belgian nuclear medicine physicians who evaluated a randomly selected series of DMSA planar scintigraphic examinations performed on children and adults. Methods: All Belgian nuclear medicine centers (n = 82) were invited to participate in a reproducibility study on ^99mTc-DMSA scintigraphy. ^99mTc-DMSA scans obtained on 10 adults and 40 children were randomly selected from the databases of 2 hospitals. Those participating in this investigation (65 centers = 79%) received a series of computer disks containing 50 ^99mTc-DMSA studies. To avoid potential problems related to unfamiliar display, the disks were formatted to be interpretable using the participants' own computer systems. Each participant was then free to use his or her usual display (hard copies, contrast enhancement, color scale, gray scale, and so forth). For each kidney, the observers had to choose between the following answers: normal, abnormal, equivocal, and lack of quality. Results: Forty-two responses were obtained from a wide variety of institutions and from observers with different levels of experience in interpreting ^99mTc-DMSA scintigraphy. Altogether, the following data were obtained: 60.8% normal, 25.2% abnormal, 7.0% equivocal, and 3.2% lack of quality. The median percentage of agreement (overall reproducibility) for the 42 observers was 92%. When the results of all 42 observers were compared, the median agreements on normality and abnormality were 93.5% and 90.5%, respectively. In a small number (n = 4) of kidneys, reproducibility was poor and ranged from 51% to 70%. Except for 2 outliers, all observers had almost the same level of performance. Conclusion: A large number of Belgian nuclear medicine physicians participated in evaluating a large randomly selected sample of ^99mTc-DMSA studies, and excellent interobserver agreement was found.

Key Words: ^99mTc-DMSA • interobserver reproducibility • planar scintigraphy

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