Accuracy of radiographer reporting of paediatric brain CT.
BACKGROUND
Radiographer reporting has been studied for plain films and for ultrasonography, but not in paediatric brain CT in the emergency setting.


OBJECTIVE
To study the accuracy of radiographer reporting in paediatric brain CT.


METHODS
We prospectively collected 100 paediatric brain CT examinations. Films were read from hard copies using a prescribed tick sheet. Radiographers with 12 years' and 3 years' experience, respectively, were blinded to the history and were not trained in diagnostic film interpretation. The radiographers' results were compared with those of a consultant radiologist. Three categories were defined: abnormal scans, significant abnormalities and insignificant abnormalities.


RESULTS
Both radiographers had an accuracy of 89.5% in reading a scan correctly as abnormal, and radiographer 1 had a sensitivity of 87.8% and radiographer 2 a sensitivity of 96%. Radiographer 1 had an accuracy in detecting a significant abnormality of 75% and radiographer 2 an accuracy of 48.6%, and the sensitivities for this category were 61.6% and 52.9%, respectively. Results for detecting the insignificant abnormalities were poorer.


CONCLUSIONS
Selected radiographers could play an effective screening role, but lacking the sensitivity required for detecting significant abnormality, they could not be the final diagnostician. We recommend that the study be repeated after both radiographers have received formal training in interpretation of paediatric brain CT.
Brandt
Andrew
A
Department of Radiology, Tygerberg Academic Hospital, Private Bag X3, Tygerberg, 7905 Cape Town, South Africa. andrewdbrandt@yahoo.com
Andronikou
Savvas
S
Wieselthaler
Nicki
N
Louw
Brand
B
Kilborn
Tracy
T
Dekker
Gerrit
G
Bertelsman
Jessica
J
Dreyer
Catherine
C
D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003287:Contrast Media; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D011859:Radiography / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011871:Radiology / Q000592:standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000592:standards*
D003287:Contrast Media