Inter-observer agreement of transvaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in local staging of cervical cancer.

• OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the inter-observer agreement in relation to observer experience for the assessment of local tumor extension in women with cervical cancer, using transvaginal ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).METHODS: The observers comprised six US specialists with, and seven without previous experience of cervical cancer assessment, five experienced radiologists in pelvic MRI, and four less experienced radiology residents without previous MRI experience. The less experienced US observers, and all MRI observers underwent comprehensive training on assessment of cervical tumor extension while experienced US observers received written directives. All observers were assigned the same images from cervical cancer patients of all stages (n=60) for off-line evaluation on tumor detection, cervical stromal- (>1/3), and parametrial invasion. Inter-observer agreement was measured using Fleiss kappa, with 95% CI.RESULTS: Experienced and less experienced US observers had moderate agreement regarding tumor detection Fleiss κ [95% CI] (0.46 [0.40-0.53], and 0.46 [0.41-0.52]), stromal invasion (0.45 [0.38-0.51] and 0.53 [0.40-0.58]) and parametrial invasion (0.57 [0.51-0.64], and 0.44 [0.39-0.50]), respectively. Experienced and less experienced MRI observers had good κ [95% CI] (0.70 [0.62-0.78]) and moderate agreement (0.51 [0.41-0.62]), regarding tumor detection, good agreement regarding stromal invasion (0.80 [0.72-0.88] and 0.71 [0.61-0.81]) and parametrial invasion (0.69 [0.61-0.77] and 0.71[0.61-0.81]), respectively.CONCLUSION: The inter-observer agreement was moderate for US, and moderate - good for MRI regarding the assessment of local tumor extension. The level of inter-observer agreement was only associated with experience among US observers regarding parametrial invasion. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Nyckelord

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Neoplasm Staging

Observer Variation

Ultrasonography

Uterine Cervical Neoplasm

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