Assessment of Compatibility Between Cardiologists and Radiologists for Interpreting and Reporting Carotid Duplex Ultrasound Images

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the degree of agreement between cardiologists and radiologists for interpreting and reporting carotid duplex ultrasound images. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in a cardiology outpatient clinic. For the sample size calculation, according to the kappa (2 raters) hypothesis testing method, assuming minimum acceptable kappa of 0.6, expected kappa of 0.8, a significance level of 0.05, power of 90%, and considering the expected dropout rate of 10% in the study, 116 patients were enrolled in the study. Demographic findings, personal histories, and laboratory test results were recorded. Carotid artery duplex ultrasonography was performed simultaneously and recorded by cardiologists and radiologists. Results: This study included 116 patients who were treated in cardiology outpatient clinics for ischemic stroke, trans-ischemic attack, amaurosis fugax, dizziness, and severe headache complaints. While 50.9% of them are female, 49.1% were male. The age range of patients included in the study was a minimum of 32 years and a maximum of 71 years. Their mean age and deviation were 58.6 ± 10.1. Examination of their distribution according to chronic disease states revealed that 44.8% had hypertension, 58.6% were smokers, 36.2% had diabetes mellitus, 22.4% had dyslipidemia, 13.8% had ischemic heart disease, 29.3% had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 16.4% had congestive heart failure. According to the criteria for carotid stenosis measurement of ≤50% and >50%, a significant and almost perfect agreement was found between the measurements by cardiologists and radiologists (Cohen's kappa coefficient κ = 0.811; P < .0001). Conclusion: Diagnostic compatibility with radiologists was found to be near-perfect for carotid ultrasound evaluation.