Cardiac training among radiologists should be encouraged.
Increasing cardiac imaging training correlates with increased sensitivity and stable specificity to detect cardiac findings on routine chest CT without electrocardiographic gating, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Researchers from Harvard University in Boston, Mass., sought to evaluate the diagnostic ability of radiologists with different levels of cardiac training to identify cardiac findings on chest CT without electrocardiographic gating compared with a reference standard of electrocardiographically gated cardiac CTA.
The researchers retrospectively identified 140 electrocardiographically gated cardiac CT angiographic studies performed in patients with routine chest CT within six months. Fourteen radiologists at four stages of training performed blinded, anonymized cardiac readings of chest CT images. Four residents had no cardiac training (stage 1), three residents had completed at least one dedicated rotation of cardiac imaging (stage 2), three radiologists had no cardiac training (stage 3), and four radiologists had formal cardiac fellowship training (stage 4).
The findings were categorized (coronary arterial, noncoronary vessel, cardiac chamber, myocardial, pericardial, and valve findings) with cardiac CTA as a reference standard.
The results showed CT angiographic findings were reported in 63 of 77 patients.
Nongated CTA
Increasing training was associated with higher sensitivity but similar specificity. Frequently missed findings categories were coronary arterial, myocardial, and cardiac chamber findings.
Sensitivity Specificity
Stage 1 30.3% 96.4%
Stage 2 35.7% 96.7%
Stage 3 45.7% 96.3%
Stage 4 61.2% 97.6%
The researchers concluded that increasing cardiac imaging training correlates with increased sensitivity and stable specificity to detect cardiac findings on routine chest CT without electrocardiographic gating. Cardiac findings should be noted on chest CT when observed, and cardiac training should be encouraged.
What a New Meta-Analysis Reveals About Fractional Flow Reserve Assessment with Computed Tomography
May 13th 2024While acknowledging variable accuracy overall with CT-derived fractional flow reserve (FFR-CT) values, researchers found that the accuracy rate increased to 90 percent for FFR-CT values greater > 0.90 and < 0.49.
The Reading Room Podcast: Emerging Trends in the Radiology Workforce
February 11th 2022Richard Duszak, MD, and Mina Makary, MD, discuss a number of issues, ranging from demographic trends and NPRPs to physician burnout and medical student recruitment, that figure to impact the radiology workforce now and in the near future.
Study Finds High Concordance Between AI and Radiologists for Cervical Spine Fractures on CT
May 6th 2024Researchers found a 98.3 percent concordance between attending radiology reports and AI assessments for possible cervical spine fractures on CT, according to new research presented at the 2024 ARRS Annual Meeting.
Can a CT-Based Radiomics Model Bolster Detection of Malignant Thyroid Nodules?
May 3rd 2024A computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics model that includes 28 radiomic features showed significantly higher accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity than conventional CT in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules, according to newly published research.