[Follow up of total hip prothesis: storage phosphor versus screen-film radiography].
OBJECTIVE
Digital radiography may lead to interpretation difficulties in patients with hip prosthesis, especially when initial evaluation was performed using screen film radiography. The purpose of this study was to evaluate inter-observer and inter-technique reproducibility comparing digital and screen-film radiography.


METHODS
Twenty-eight patients with unilateral (n=24) or bilateral (n=4) hip prosthesis (total=32 prostheses) underwent screen-film and digital (storage phosphor) radiography. The bone-cement and metal-cement interfaces were evaluated for the presence of a lucent line in 14 different sectors reclassified into 3 regions. This evaluation was performed by two independent readers. Inter-observer and inter-technique reproducibility were calculated using kappa values.


RESULTS
The inter-observer reproducibility was negligible, poor or average with Kappa values ranging from 0.07 to 0.47. The degree of agreement between the two methods was poor, average or good for both observers with Kappa values ranging from 0.10 to 0.66.


CONCLUSIONS
Although inter-technique agreement is not high, it is better than inter-observer agreement. Therefore, storage phosphor technique should not be rejected for total hip prosthesis follow-up, even though previous films were screen-film radiographs.
Service d'imagerie Guilloz, Hôpital Central, 54035 Nancy-cedex.
K
K
Polet
H
H
de La Selle
J
J
Leroux
T
T
Ludig
F
F
Girard
H
H
Coudane
A
A
Blum
D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001843:Bone Cements / Q000009:adverse effects; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005260:Female; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000592:standards*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014963:X-Ray Intensifying Screens / Q000592:standards*
D001843:Bone Cements