title: Coronary artery calcification scoring by prospectively triggered multidetector-row computed tomography: is it reproducible?
abstract: The objective of this study was to measure the interobserver and interscan variation of coronary artery calcium scores using multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT). Seventy-five patients underwent 2 sequential MDCT scans for coronary artery calcification. Each patient's score was separately measured by 3-blinded radiologists. Scores were treated as discrete and continuous data, and independent statistical analysis was performed on all results. There was a high proportion of interscan and inter-reader concordance for the presence of coronary calcium (range, 0.893-0.973) and for its quantity (range, 0.936-0.988). Overall, prospectively triggered multidetector-row calcium scoring is reproducible though there is more variation in those patients with already high scores. There is no need to scan patients twice at the same sitting.
authors.affiliation: Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, 601 North Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Leo P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Lawler
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Scatarige
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Phelps
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Elliot K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Fishman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods