Interobserver agreement in staging gastric malt lymphoma by EUS.
BACKGROUND
EUS is highly accurate for staging gastric lymphoma. Because stage correlates to outcome, interobserver agreement is mandatory. However, previous studies suggest that interobserver agreement might vary according to T-stage. A multicenter evaluation of observer agreement with respect to endosonographic staging of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma was therefore conducted.


METHODS
Fifty-four patients were studied; 42 were also evaluated after eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection. EUS was performed at different institutions by 10 experienced endosonographers who collected the best photographs for each examination. Interobserver agreement was estimated with kappa statistics.


RESULTS
Overall interobserver agreement for T-stage was fair, both before and after treatment (kappa = 0.38 and kappa = 0.37, respectively). Overall interobserver agreement for N-stage was substantial before treatment, but only fair after treatment (kappa = 0.63 and kappa = 0.34, respectively). The lowest values of agreement occurred with T1sm (submucosa) and T2 stage lesions.


CONCLUSIONS
Interobserver agreement for staging of gastric MALT lymphoma by EUS is suboptimal before as well as after treatment of H pylori infection. This evidence suggests that gastric EUS may be more difficult technically compared with EUS of other organs. Lack of agreement is crucial because it influences the choice of therapy and assessment of response to treatment. Good interobserver agreement would permit better communication concerning the clinical status of patients, comparison of the results of different studies, and stratification of patients within clinical trials.
Fusaroli
Pietro
P
Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Bologna, Italy.
Buscarini
Elisabetta
E
Peyre
Sergio
S
Federici
Telemaco
T
Parente
Fabrizio
F
De Angelis
Claudio
C
Bonanno
Giacomo
G
Meroni
Emanuele
E
Napolitano
Vincenzo
V
Pisani
Antonio
A
Sottili
Sandra
S
Togliani
Thomas
T
Caletti
Giancarlo
G
D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019160:Endosonography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D018442:Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*