Interobserver variability of ultrasound parameters in portal hypertension

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
• Main Authors: Patricia Moreno Sebastianes, Danilo Moulin Sales, José Eduardo Mourão Santos, Alberto Ribeiro de Souza Leão, Juliana Dantas da Costa, Kenji Takemoto, Júlia Capobianco, Alexandre Sérgio de Araújo Bezerra, Giuseppe D'Ippolito
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2010
• Subjects: schistosomiasis; ultrasound; portal hypertension; spleen; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Microbiology; QR1-502; Arctic; The Portal
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0074-02762010000400010; https://doaj.org/article/628d5d17e3214f1ebaa384303815d4cd

The aim of this study was to assess interobserver agreement of ultrasound parameters for portal hypertension in hepatosplenic mansonic schistosomiasis. Spleen size, diameter of the portal, splenic and superior mesenteric veins and presence of thrombosis and cavernous transformation were determined by three radiologists in blinded and independent fashion in 30 patients. Interobserver agreement was measured by the kappa index and intraclass correlation coefficient. Interobserver agreement was considered substantial (κ = 0.714-0.795) for portal vein thrombosis and perfect (κ = 1) for cavernous transformation. Interobserver agreement measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient was excellent for longitudinal diameter of the spleen (r = 0.828-0.869) and splenic index (r = 0.816-0.905) and varied from fair to almost perfect for diameter of the portal (r = 0.622-0.675), splenic (r = 0.573-0.913) and superior mesenteric (r = 0.525-0.607) veins. According to the results, ultrasound is a highly reproducible method for the main morphological parameters of portal hypertension in schistosomiasis patients.