Respiratory failure & ventilation
Assessment of the comparative agreement between chest radiographs and computerised tomography (CT) scans in intensive care units
Authors' conclusion
Chest radiographs commonly miss important radiological features in critically ill patients. Inter-observer agreement in chest radiograph interpretation is only "fair". Consultant radiologists are least likely to miss thoracic radiological abnormalities.
Study context
- Population
- ICU patients with chest radiographs and corresponding thoracic CT scans20 assessors
- Participants
- 45 patients
- Comparison
- Chest radiograph vs CT
- Outcome
- Sensitivity/specificity of chest radiographs for pleural effusion, lobar collapse and consolidation/atelectasis
Methodological detailsmulticentre, blinded to CT results, CT as reference standard
- Multicentre
- Blinded to CT results
- CT as reference standard
Performance
As reported in the abstract
Detection of abnormalities seen on CT
| Test or model | Median sensitivity | Median specificity |
|---|---|---|
| Chest radiograph | 43.2% | 85.9% |
Chest radiograph
Median sensitivity43.2%
Median specificity85.9%
Further findings
Inter-observer agreement (Fleiss' kappa)
- Median inter-observer kappa coefficient ("fair")
- 0.295
Pleural effusion by specialty/experience (subgroup)
- Sensitivity significantly higher among radiology consultants; no specialty/experience distinctions for specificity
Original publication
Assessment of the comparative agreement between chest radiographs and CT scans in intensive care units. J Crit Care. Published 15 March 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →