title: Feasibility of abdominal plain film images in evaluation suspected drug smuggler.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Drug smuggling in the gastrointestinal tract has soared within the last 20 years. Though illegal substances in the gastrointestinal tract can be visualized with ultrasound, MRI and CT, the abdominal radiograph has by far remained the most frequently used way of detecting smuggled drugs. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the inter-radiologist interpretation error and the reliability of the abdominal radiograph in detecting smuggled drugs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 279 abdominal radiographs of suspected smugglers were classified by three radiologists as clearly positive or negative for drug smuggling. All available information about the cases was collected from the customs officers and police.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of these cases 203 (73%) were interpreted as negative and 35 (13%) as positive by all three radiologists. In 86% of the cases there was, therefore, an inter-radiological agreement in interpreting the images. In 41 (14%) cases, however, there was an inter-radiologist disagreement. Kappa-value for inter-observer variability was 0.70.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In up to a seventh of the abdominal radiographs the interpretation can be challenging even for an experienced radiologist. False positive interpretation can lead to innocent passengers being detained in vain. As negatively interpreted images usually result in releasing of the suspect, there is no way of knowing how many false negative occur. This makes the abdominal radiograph a suboptimal examination, and low dose CT should be considered as the screening modality for gastrointestinal drug smugglers.
authors.affiliation: Medical Imaging Center, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. markus.sormaala@welho.com
authors.forename: Markus J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sormaala
authors.forename: Hanna-Mari
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Salonen
authors.forename: Ville M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: Arto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kivisaari
authors.forename: Taina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Autti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs