Agreement between ultrasonography and computed tomography in detecting intracranial calcifications in congenital toxoplasmosis.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the agreement between ultrasound (US) and computed tomography (CT) in detecting intracranial calcification in infants with congenital toxoplasmosis.


METHODS
Forty-four infants referred for investigation of congenital toxoplasmosis were prospectively evaluated, and the diagnosis was confirmed or ruled out by serological testing and by follow-up in the first year of life. The investigation protocol included cranial US and cranial CT, and examinations were conducted and interpreted by two radiologists blinded to the results of the other imaging test and to the diagnostic confirmation.


RESULTS
The diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis was confirmed in 33 patients, and agreement between US and CT findings was found in 31 of these cases. Both methods detected calcifications in 18 patients, and neither detected calcifications in 13 patients. Overall agreement was 94% and the kappa coefficient was 0.88 (95% confidence interval: 0.71, 1; p<0.001), which revealed almost perfect agreement between the two diagnostic methods.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, US and CT demonstrated equal sensitivity in the detection of intracranial calcification in infants with congenital toxoplasmosis.
Lago
E G
EG
Department of Pediatrics, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul School of Medicine, São Lucas Hospital, Porto Alegre, Brazil. eglago@pucrs.br
Baldisserotto
M
M
Hoefel Filho
J R
JR
Santiago
D
D
Jungblut
R
R
D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000592:standards; D016781:Toxoplasmosis, Cerebral / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014125:Toxoplasmosis, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography