title: Time efficiency and diagnostic agreement of 2-D versus 3-D ultrasound acquisition of the neonatal brain.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare acquisition time efficiency and diagnostic agreement of neonatal brain ultrasound (US) scans obtained with a 3-D volume US acquisition protocol and the conventional 2-D acquisition protocol. Ninety-one consecutive premature neonatal brain ultrasound scans were prospectively performed on 59 neonates with the conventional 2-D acquisition protocol. Immediately after the 2-D study, a coronal 3-D ultrasound volume was acquired and later reconstructed into axial and sagittal planes. All 59 neonates were imaged in the neonatal intensive care unit to rule out intracranial hemorrhage. Total time for 2-D and 3-D acquisition protocols was recorded, and a two-tailed t-test was used to determine if study durations differed significantly. One pediatric neuroradiologist reviewed the reformatted 3-D images, tomographic ultrasound images. Results were compared with the clinical interpretation of the 2-D conventional study. The mean scanning time for the 2-D US acquisition protocol was 10.56 min (standard deviation [SD] = 7.11), and that for the 3-D volume US acquisition protocol was 1.48 min (SD = 0.59) (p ≤ 0.001). Inter-observer agreement revealed k values of 0.84 for hydrocephalus, 0.80 for germinal matrix hemorrhage/intraventricular hemorrhage, 0.74 for periventricular leukomalacia and 0.91 for subdural collection, hence near-perfect to substantial agreement between imaging protocols. There was a significant decrease in acquisition time for the 3-D volume ultrasound acquisition protocol compared with the conventional 2-D US protocol (p = <0.001), without compromising the diagnostic quality compared with a conventional 2-D US imaging protocol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Electronic address: Jmromero@partners.org.
authors.forename: Javier M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Madan
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Lowell Community Health Center, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Ilda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Betancur
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciobanu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McCullough
authors.affiliation: Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Children's Hospital of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: P Ellen
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Grant
mesh_terms: D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004453:Echoencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: 3-D ultrasound; Neonatal brain; Time efficiency; Volume imaging