TITLE:
Reproducibility of 3 mm-Slice-Thick Reconstruction of Paranasal Sinus Computed Tomography Scans
AUTHORS:
Matti Karjalainen, Anna Julkunen, Antti Markkola, Prasun Dastidar, Heini Huhtala, Mikko Suvinen, Anna-Maija Kuukka, Markus Rautiainen, Jura Numminen, Sanna Toppila-Salmi
KEYWORDS:
Chronic Rhinosinusitis, Computed Tomography, Image Reconstruction, Inter-Observer Agreement, Intra-Observer Agreement, Kappa, Radiation-Dose Reduction, Reproducibility, Paranasal Sinus, Sinus Imaging
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Radiology,
Vol.6 No.1,
March
28,
2016
ABSTRACT: Background: After the failure of medical treatment, the surgery of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is planned according to endoscopic and paranasal sinus computed tomography (CT) findings. Objective: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate whether this study method might be eligible in studies aiming at radiation dose reduction. Sinus CT scans were chosen as a model because of the high variation of the radiological anatomy of surgically important sinonasal structures. We hypothesized that 3 mm-slice-thick reconstruction CT had poor reproducibility. Methods: 59 CRS patients underwent routine multi-detector sinus CT (CTMD). CT3mm was reconstructed from CTMD data-sets. Lund-Mackay (LM) scores and 43 other structural parameters were analyzed blinded. Agreement was studied between CTMD and CT3mm (intra-observer reproducibility), and between three observers (inter-observer reproducibility) by using Cohen’s kappa. Results: The inter-observer agreement was moderate (kappa 0.4 - 0.6, p 3mm scans. The intra-observer reproducibility of CT3mm scans was very good in most structures, however, it was poor in important structures such as frontal and spheno-ethmoid recess, lamina papyracae, and location of optic nerve or anterior ethmoidal artery. The grade of surgeon’s confidence of CT3mm in comparison to CTMD was lower (kappa 0.2 - 0.4, P