title: Interobserver agreement on the diagnosis of carotid artery calcifications on panoramic radiographs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was performed to investigate the interobserver agreement on the detection of carotid artery calcifications on panoramic radiographs.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study consisted of panoramic radiographs acquired from 634 male patients of the age of 50 years or older. Having excluded carotids of no diagnostic quality, 1008 carotids from the panoramic radiographs of the patients were interpreted by two oral and maxillofacial radiologists independently for the presence of carotid artery calcifications. Statistical analysis was used to calculate the interobserver agreement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interobserver agreement was obtained for 932 carotids (92.4%). Inconsistent interpretation of 76 carotids (7.5%) between the two observers was found. Cohen's kappa value was 0.688 (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The probability of a match between the two observers was substantially high.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Dental Science Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Suk-Ja
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Kyun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Dental Science Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Seo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Dental Science Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Cheol
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Dental Science Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hoi-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Anatomy, Dental Science Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Seok
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Anatomy, Dental Science Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Hun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Diagnosis; Radiography, Panoramic